


You've Got Me Spellbound

by zzegnas



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Genderswap, Pregnancy, girl!Louis, girl!Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-01-20
Packaged: 2018-01-09 10:01:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zzegnas/pseuds/zzegnas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry takes a health class during the summer term and meets Zayn, who happens to be eight months pregnant.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You've Got Me Spellbound

**Author's Note:**

> I suppose this is an AU of the film "[Summer School](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiqWPa368q0)", but not a proper one, in the sense that I'm only using one of the subplots as opposed to the other five. The pregnancy storyline always stood out for me, so I wanted to hone in and expand it to something else in the 1D world. There are moments in the film sprinkled throughout, you'll spot 'em if you've seen it!
> 
>  **Sidenotes:** everything's Americanized (as usual haha); Niall/Louis make a couple of appearances to warrant being tagged; if pregnancy isn't your thing, you can totally skip this.
> 
> Dedicated to Lola and Agnes who wanted genderswap zarry! I hope it's what you're looking for ;) Happy reading and have a [mix](http://8tracks.com/jenkojammy/circles-we-ve-traced)!
> 
> (I take full responsibility for any remaining mistakes and inaccurate depictions of pregnancies.)
> 
> Title from "[I Can Dream About You](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9N1DSccGy4A)" by Dan Hartman.

_Name: Harry Styles_  
 _Student ID: 0409170HS_  
 _Term: SUM14 A_  
 _Course: PE125 Health Sciences_  
 _Room: G105_

Standing on the sidelines of a wet, dewy soccer field on a Monday morning is not exactly how Harry pictured the first day of his summer term.  His Health Sciences class is located the furthest away from the front of the campus, and he’s shown up fifteen minutes too early with nothing else to do.  He’ll have to do this for the next six weeks, attending four days a week for four hours straight.  He could spend that time sleeping the summer away, but he can’t bear staying in his apartment all day.

“I can always drop the class,” Harry assures himself, half convinced.  Blades of loose grass stick to his boots when he digs his heel into the ground, turning his head when he hears a door click open.

“Harry?” a voice calls from behind.

A young man named Liam calls for him, a student teacher enrolled in the health and fitness program of Harry’s community college.  He was also Harry’s weight training teacher last term, finding themselves as good friends due to their close age range.  Harry’s glad Liam is teaching the class to get his credentials, although he finds it unfair that his friend isn’t getting paid for his time, being hired as an unpaid intern in place of school credits.

“You can come in now.  Get your seat while it’s hot,” Liam giggles, hanging on to the edge of the door.

“I’ll be right there,” Harry smiles.  He sometimes wishes he could be as perky as Liam.

Harry holds open the heavy door, finding the classroom stuffy despite Liam opening a few windows.  The room is full of long black top tables, enough to seat two people at the most.  Harry scans the room for his seat, taking the front table next to Liam’s desk.  It’s an instinct for him to sit in the back, but he doesn’t want to disappoint Liam by not paying attention.

“Ten minutes to eight, oh boy,” Liam says, looking at the digital clock above the whiteboard.

“How many people are in the class?”

“Twelve, maybe?  It’s the first term, so it’s not a full house or anything.  Second term will be even less, nobody wants to be here when it’s ass hot.”

Harry snickers, pulling out his phone to keep himself occupied.  Only one message has been sent to him by his best friend and roommate, Niall ( _have fun at school loser!! haha let’s go for lunch when ur done!_ ).  He rolls his eyes when he replies ( _slacker! i could use some tacos_ ), and the class begins filling up with the rest of the students five minutes before it starts.

Liam writes his name in big letters on the whiteboard, along with four points as the agenda in their four-hour class.  He’s worried when he counts the heads in class, double checking his roster to make sure he has the right amount of students.  His watch beeps twice at exactly eight o’clock and he excitedly claps his hands, grinning so wide Harry can’t help but smile with him.

“Welcome to Health Sciences, everyone!  My name is Liam, hold the ‘Mr. Payne’, and I will be your teacher for the next six weeks!”  Liam heads to his desk and pulls out a small stack of papers from his bag, handing them to Harry to take and pass around.  It’s the syllabus to the class, and the first bullet point that catches Harry’s eye is “Projects Assigned”, making his stomach twist from agitation already.

Liam heads to the little podium in front of the class, flipping through his papers before he starts speaking again.  “First, I’ll be going over the course outline with you, then we'll do class introductions,” the class grumbles and Liam pouts a little, but continues, “and then I’ll answer any questions about the projects I’ll be assigning.  They’ll be easy as pie, I promise.”

Harry looks through the papers again and doesn’t bother to turn his head when the heavy door to the classroom opens up.  He reads through the criteria for the projects, and it’s just as easy as Liam promised: a slideshow of a health disorder explained in ten frames or more.  Harry doesn’t notice Liam’s voice has gone softer, but he does notice a pair of black and white creepers when he looks at the floor.

“Go ahead and sit wherever you’d like,” Liam says in a cheery tone.

“Thanks again,” a sweet voice tells him, making Harry’s ears perk up.  “I’m sorry I’m late, I didn’t realize the class was so far away.”

Harry looks up and finds a girl wearing a red sundress with her creepers, her shoulder length hair with perfect waves pinned back to show her face. She’s a literal pinup girl come to life and Harry’s throat is suddenly vibrating out of nowhere.  She walks towards Harry with her head down, but takes a step back when she looks up.

“Oh,” she says in surprise, catching the falling straps of her bag with her hand, “is it okay if I sit here?”

Harry keeps staring at her, noticing her long eyelashes when she blinks at him.  “Uh, yeah!  Sure, go right ahead,” he says, pulling out the plastic chair from underneath.

“Great!” she smiles, and it’s a sweet one.

“I’ll make sure you get a better chair after break,” Liam taps her desk, and she nods with a smile in thanks.

Harry looks away when she settles into her seat, staring so hard at the whiteboard he might burn a hole through it.  He studies his desk mate from the corner of his eye, making note of the little cherries printed on her dress, the white plastic rose rings on her fingers, even her notebook with The Avengers printed on the cover.  She tosses her hair back and Harry catches a whiff of her perfume, sweet and floral to the senses.

The girl faces him and he quickly turns away, pretending to scratch his head when he feels a tap on his shoulder.  “What’s your name?” she whispers.

Harry repeatedly stutters the first letter of his name and covers his face in embarrassment when she laughs.  “I mean, _I’m Harry_.”

“I’m Zayn,” she grins, shaking Harry's hand.  “Just thought I should know it since I might ask you to do a few things from time to time.”

“Oh, like what?” Harry asks with wide eyes.

“I’m a little pregnant right now, so I’m not as limber as I used to be.”

Harry tilts his head, confused, and Zayn leans back in her chair, patting the rotund belly protruding from her dress.  Her outfit clearly did wonders for her if Harry didn’t notice her bump at first glance.  He gives her a nod, asking, “How far along are you?”

“Just about eight months now.  This baby is _really_ kicking my ass,” she says with a giggle.

“Harry, Zayn.  If you could quiet it down a little?  I don’t want to explain the projects twice,” Liam says over them.  They put their heads down in submission, quietly snickering when they look back at each other.

—

Two hours into the lesson, Liam gives the class a twenty minute break while he runs a few errands.  Harry yawns loudly, and does a double take when he notices Zayn struggling to stand up.  Coming to her rescue, he helps her by holding on to her arms, slowly rising with her as she gets to her feet, and grabs her bag when she looks for it.

“Oh gosh, this is getting more difficult the bigger I get,” laughing as she fixes her dress.  “Thanks, Harry.”

“You’re welcome,” he smiles.  Zayn pauses for a moment when she looks at him, and Harry suddenly feels entranced watching her move her shoulders as if she were shaking off an open blouse.

“Wanna join me outside?” she asks, breaking Harry from her spell.  “I’ve got some snacks if you’re interested!”  Zayn holds her hands out to take her bag from him, brandishing a large tupperware tub of grapes and apple slices, enough to feed at least four people.

“That’s a lot of fruit for one person,” he points out as they leave the room.

“ _Two_ people, silly!  I’ve got a baby, remember?”

Harry laughs at her comment, then helps her sit on the bench not too far from their classroom.  She sighs out loud as she stretches her legs, wiggling her feet around when she opens the tub of fruit, and sets it in the open space between herself and Harry.  They stay quiet for a while, eating the sweet and crunchy apple slices while they lounge under the cool late May sun.

“Are you taking any other classes this term?” Zayn asks, popping a grape in her mouth.  Harry raises a brow, unsure if he meant to find that erotic so early in the day.

“Just this class, it was the only one available for my general education.”

“Hey, me too!  So do you work or anything?”

“Pool cleaner,” he replies.  Zayn slowly nods her head, but her expression is indifferent.  “It’s not as boring as it sounds!” Harry laughs, “I work with my best friend and the pay is really good since we’re usually hired to work for rich families.  We make enough to share an apartment together.”

“Aw, lucky!  I’d like to move out one day,” she sighs.  “What I make isn’t enough for my own place, but at least it pays for doctor’s appointments and things like that.”

“Where do you work?  It can’t be that bad.”

“My mom’s donut shop, Tricia’s Donuts, have you heard of it?”

Harry sits up a little straighter, his eyes sparkling in interest.  “Have I heard of it!?” he dramatically sputters with a hand to his chest, “That’s one of my favorite places!  You guys make the most amazing apple fritters!”

“I make those!” Zayn exclaims, pointing at herself with her thumbs.  “Well, my mom makes them better than I do, but I’m pretty decent, I won’t lie.”

“Hold on, how come I’ve never seen you before?  I’m there almost every weekend if my friend isn’t buying a baker’s dozen for me.”

“Oh, I work really early in the morning on weekends and I’m always in the back to avoid customers,” she laughs, taking a bite out of her apple slice.  “I mean, I can talk to people like I’m talking to you right now, but I let my mom handle the idiots who try to fight her for extra samples.”

Zayn finishes the rest of her apple and picks up a grape, throwing it in the air and easily catching it with her mouth.  Harry applauds, finding her bashful pleas of ‘Harry, stop!’ endearing when he imitates a cheering crowd.

“Ask for me the next time you visit the shop, yeah?”  Zayn leans in a little closer, whispering, “I’ll even throw in a few extra fritters for you as a reward.”

“Extra fritters from The Fritter Queen?  Zayn, I’m already camping out,” Harry grins, making her giggle and scrunch her nose.

They walk back to class before their break ends and Harry can’t help but wonder if, despite Zayn’s situation, they could possibly be together.  It feels strange to want this after only knowing each other for two hours, but it feels right.

—

Right around lunch time, Harry meets up with Niall at their favorite taco stand not too far from their apartment.  Niall orders a burrito, while Harry orders a four taco plate special; their usual staple of food on Monday afternoons before they go to work.  They take a seat under the umbrellas outside, stocking up on napkins and shaking their large styrofoam cups full of ice cold horchata.

“So how was class, man?” Niall asks, taking a sip of his drink with a straw.

“It was good.  My weight training teacher from last term is teaching it, so it’s pretty laid back.”

Niall nods and takes a bite out of his burrito, using his hand to catch the rice that falls from its tortilla.  Harry loves his tacos, but often finds himself at odds with mountain of food piled on top when he tries to eat them.  He manages a bite after a minute of organizing the onions and meat, only to roll his eyes when half the taco falls onto his plate as expected.

“Niall,” Harry pauses, waiting for his friend to look up, “have you ever liked a pregnant girl?”

“ _Whoa_ , where did that question come from?” Niall laughs, flicking a stray piece of rice from the corner of his mouth.  “Strangest one you’ve asked yet.”

“It’s nothing.  Just asking,” Harry shrugs and goes back to eating.

Maybe now isn’t the right time to tell Niall about Zayn.  Harry should have thought about this more carefully considering he barely met Zayn a few hours ago, not to mention she’s pregnant and there’s a possibility she could have a boyfriend or even a husband.  And yet, Harry finds her so enthralling that he’d steal her away from someone else if he had to.

“Hey, just letting you know, me and the lady are going to her sister's piano recital tonight,” Niall says with his mouth full.  “Her mom will go berserk if we ditch another one.”

The lady in question happens to be Niall’s girlfriend of two years, a sharp witted girl named Louis.  They met one afternoon when Harry and Niall were scheduled to clean her family’s backyard pool, hitting it off almost instantly as soon as Louis opened the door and Niall introduced himself.  Harry likes that they’re together, although he finds their combined sex drives intolerable during certain times of the day.

“You’re really quiet today, did you not get enough sleep?”  Niall leans over the table, putting the back of his hand on Harry’s forehead before he sits back down.

“I think I need a nap,” Harry softly laughs, starting on his second taco.  “Four hours is a long time to be in a classroom.”

“Are you sure that’s all it’s about?” Niall asks, hinting there might be more behind Harry’s quiet demeanor.

“Um, well.  There’s a girl in class who sits next to me and she’s really sweet,” Harry smiles a little pathetically.  “Her mom owns Tricia’s Donuts and she asked me to come visit her.”

“No way, that’s awesome!  Maybe we can sweet talk her into giving us extra free samples on the weekends,” Niall happily bounces in his seat.

“No, come on, man!  I barely met her this morning, don’t be a dick.”

Niall rolls his eyes, mumbling something incoherent that Harry can’t translate.  While Harry finishes the rest of his tacos, he begins to believe he might be giving himself mixed messages about Zayn, and needs to think about the cleaning he has to do with Niall for a client in an hour instead.  But there’s no doubt he’ll still think about Zayn while he cleans, and there’s no doubt his stomach is now craving her apple fritters.

—

For the rest of the week, Harry is actually excited to be in class, knowing he’ll see Zayn.  He writes little notes to Zayn on the margins of her notebook, takes in the scent her sweet perfume, and enjoys sharing snacks with her during their break.  Harry never asked Zayn why she brings a tub of fruit with her every day, considering the child growing inside of her, but he’s fascinated by the story of her eating habits when she was completely unaware of her pregnancy.

“Oh, it was so awful!  I would just pile all this food in my mouth with no shame,” she says, eating a slice of cantaloupe with her fork.  “I was eating chicken wings and pizza and fish sticks and fudgesicles and all these things that a twelve year old boy eats after school.  I really thought I was losing it for a while the way I was going.”

“Hey, I was twelve once, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten fish sticks,” Harry jokes, making her laugh.  “But let me guess: you ate pizza with ranch dressing and drowned a chocolate cake with teriyaki sauce.  Oh, I bet you even drank Coke with hot sauce in it!”

“Harry, I said I ate junk food, not _garbage_.”  Her glare is deadly, but she can’t help but laugh when Harry freezes from it.  “I suppose the weirdest thing I did eat was like a sort of liver sandwich,” she shudders, and Harry nearly retches from the image alone.  “I thought it was peanut butter and jelly, but I was dead wrong.  I still haven’t forgiven my dad for leaving that in the kitchen, the silly man.”

Zayn shakes her head and pokes her fork at a slice of honeydew.  She holds it up to her face, only to wave it in front of Harry and feed it to him instead.  Harry’s completely taken by surprise, blushing while he chews, and is probably smiling like a complete idiot when Zayn winks at him.

“Were your parents okay with what happened?” Harry asks, waving his hand in front of Zayn’s bump.  “I imagine they weren’t too psyched.”

“Definitely not,” she shakes her head, “my dad was furious and my mom cried for hours, even more than I did!  My aunties went absolutely nuts, too; news travels pretty fast in my family.”  Zayn shakes her head, disappointed that her pregnancy couldn’t remain a secret.  “The point is _I just didn’t know_ I was already three months pregnant when I found out.  I went to the doctor about a stomach problem and it turned out I had a little baby growing inside of me.”

Zayn laughs at the situation and she continues her story, intriguing Harry even further with every minute they spend together.  Harry never knew doctor’s appointments could sound so interesting the way Zayn speaks about them.

“What did your friends say?” Harry asks in a softer tone, noticing Zayn’s stoic expression.

“They think I’ve fallen off the planet, actually,” she says quietly.  “I didn’t bother to tell any of them except for my two friends, Danny and Ant,” she looks down at her fruit, then shrugs at Harry.  “I can tell them anything and they won’t judge me for it.”

Harry gives her a nod and almost immediately, Zayn perks back up again.  “Oh, but you know, my parents aren’t as freaked out about the pregnancy anymore.  I’ve been taking really good care of myself and taking the proper steps for the baby’s adoption, but my dad is _definitely_ on his guard about guys who come near me.”

Harry feigns a frightened expression and backs away with his hands up.  “Guess I better stay out of your way, then.”

Zayn snorts at his comment, telling him, “You could.  Except I don’t want you to.”

Harry’s speechless at her statement, and he puts his head down, hiding his flushed cheeks with a secret smile on his face.  Zayn pokes her fork through another slice of honeydew and sports a devious grin when she takes a bite, making Harry feel he has a chance with her.

—

The following Monday only four students present their projects, including Harry and Zayn, wanting to get it out of the way as early as possible.  Harry’s chosen subject is on narcolepsy and Zayn does the opposite, doing hers on insomnia.  They deliberately present their subjects one after the other, much to Liam’s amusement while he scribbles his own set of notes on a large yellow legal pad.  Harry finds it amusing that Liam speaks out what he writes on his papers.

The day after their presentation, Harry brings his own tub of fruit full of ripe mangoes and sweet mandarin oranges to share with Zayn, and she’s over the moon by his sweet act.

“I’ve been freeloading off of you for the last two weeks, so I figured I’d bring something of my own.  You know, to return the favor and all,” Harry beams with pride.  Zayn can’t help but laugh with joy, and pinches Harry’s cheeks when they go a little redder than usual.

“You’re such a sweetheart,” she pokes his dimple, amused.  “My ex would never think to do something like this for me, let alone figure out if I was hungry in general.”

Harry’s stomach drops at the last sentence.  He wasn’t expecting her to say that, and he doesn’t want to know what her ex did or didn’t do when they were together.  It’s only been two weeks since they met and all Harry wants is to give her the world in a tub full of fresh fruit.  Except when he looks at his own fruit, they start to morph into decomposing lumps of shit, and he’s not so sure he wants to eat any of it anymore.

“Harry, are you okay?” Zayn asks, worried.  “Did I say something?”  She puts her hand over the one resting on his knee, bringing him back to reality.

“No, Zayn,” he laughs a little.  “I’m fine, my mind sort of drifted.”

“Oh.  Okay, good,” she smiles, holding his hand a little tighter.  “Wouldn’t want to lose my fruit-eating partner, now would I?”

“Is that all I am to you?” Harry jokingly asks, popping a slice of mango in his mouth.

Zayn glares at him, her voice rather venomous when she retorts with, “I’ll tell you what else you can eat when I’m no longer pregnant,” making Harry choke on his mango, “you little pervert.”

—

Liam posts the grades to the first presentations the following week and Harry’s thrilled that he received a perfect score.  As his own secret tradition, Harry treats himself to a present if he worked hard enough for a good grade; and today, he’s thinking of buying a new shirt.  But this time, his treat comes in the form of something unexpected while he’s walking out of class with Zayn.

“Are you doing anything for lunch?” she asks, adjusting the large bag on her shoulder.

Harry shakes his head.  “Not really, why?”

“I just found out today is Taco Salad Thursday at the cafeteria and I was wondering if you wanted to join me,” she says with a little bounce in her step.  “It’ll be my treat since we both got A’s on our presentations.”

Harry’s heart practically leaps out of his chest, shocked that Zayn is asking him out on an unofficial date.  Well, he’s just kidding himself about the date part; but he’d obviously like to spend more time with Zayn, and his love for anything to do with tacos is enough to accept her offer.

“I would love to, Zayn,” he says with a grin, and holds out his arm for her to take.  She gladly wraps her hands around his elbow, leading the way to their destination.

The cafeteria is scarce with students, but the food is plentiful when they walk towards the food line for their taco salads.  Zayn orders first, and Harry watches in amazement how much food she asks for in her tortilla bowl.  The amount Harry gets isn’t even _half_ of what Zayn ordered, but he forgets she’s eating for two people.

They sit outside at a table underneath a large tree and Zayn digs into her salad as soon as she sits down.  She takes huge forkfuls of rice with the shredded beef, twirling the garlands of lettuce and cheese that sit on top like spaghetti noodles and eats it all in one bite, much to Harry’s surprise.

“I thought you said you had to eat healthy and all that stuff,” Harry says, amused.

“I do!  I’m allowed to cheat on my meal plan once a week, Liam said I could as a reward.”

“Liam?  He’s been planning your meals?”

“No, silly, he’s my fitness coach!” she laughs, taking a drink from her water bottle.  “I’ve been doing exercises with him for a few weeks, so my body’s not all over the place once I pop.  His cousin’s pregnant too and she’s my workout partner, although she’s only on her second trimester.”

“Should I thank Liam?  ‘Cause you’re already looking great,” Harry says with a wink.

“Harry, you are so sweet!  I get diabetic just looking at you.”

Harry laughs and ducks his head, taking a bite from his taco salad.  The meat is juicy and tender to his taste buds and he wonders, while savoring its well seasoned flavors, if he can get this at his favorite taco stand the next time he goes there with Niall.

For the first few minutes, Harry and Zayn quietly eat their food, and neither of them take out their phones to distract themselves from each other.  Zayn takes quick glances at Harry and holds back a smile, while Harry spends most of his time admiring how divine Zayn looks in her navy blue dress patterned with white anchors, especially with her lightly curled raven hair highlighted by the sun.

“Zayn?”  She looks up with a smile.  “It’s okay if you don’t want to answer, but,” Harry waits a beat, “are you going through this pregnancy alone?”

“Alone?  How do you mean?”

“I meant, is the father of your child around,” he says in a quieter voice.

“Oh, _that_.  Um,” she hesitates a little, fixing the ring on her pinky, “it’s better if he’s not involved.”

“I’m guessing it’s a good thing?” he asks, confused.

Zayn laughs a little, propping her hand under her chin.  “The father and I were already broken up for about two months when I found out, so he’s been _long_ gone.  And really, I don’t need him to help me and it’s not like he’ll be there for the kid anyway,” Zayn scoffs and Harry mentally smacks himself in the head for making her angry.  “I’m not ready to be a parent, Harry.  But the family that’s adopting her are really great and they’ve wanted a baby after trying for so long.  I know they’ll be happy to have her in their lives and it makes me happy that they’ll love her like she’s their own.”

“I-I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable,” Harry stammers, “I was just curious.  Forgive me if I say anything stupid, all of this is really fascinating, especially from you.”

“Oh, Harry, don’t think that!” she says softly, taking his hand in hers.  Harry feels a jolt of electricity, her touch both gentle and warm.  “It’s okay to ask me questions, I don’t mind you picking my brain a little bit.”

Harry nods and he keeps nodding for no other reason than he’s suddenly nervous.  He still hasn’t let go of Zayn’s hand, and she doesn’t seem intent on releasing him with the way she’s brushing her thumb over his bony knuckles.  Aside from her ex, Zayn hasn’t mentioned anyone else in her life, and Harry hopes this is an opportune moment to ask her out.

“Do you, uh, um,” Harry huffs, looking at everything else but Zayn.  “D-Do you think maybe, if you wanted to, I could take you out on a date one night?”

Zayn sits up a little straighter, her eyes widening the more Harry feels his cheeks getting hotter.  His heartbeat races the longer she stays silent and he’s on the verge of nearly fainting when she finally answers him.

“You know, I was kind of wondering when you would ask,” she smiles, biting her lip.

“Really!” he exclaims in a high pitched voice, but quickly clears his throat.  “I mean, uh, _cool_.  It’s totally cool.”  Harry tries to keep it that way, but loses it when Zayn covers her mouth to laugh.  “I’ll let you pick whichever night you’re available, I figure you might be busier than me.”

Zayn holds up a finger and takes out her phone from her bag, tapping a few things before she looks up with a smile.  “I’m definitely free Saturday night if you have anything planned.”

“Saturday night’s perfect,” Harry grins.

Zayn writes down her address for Harry when they’re done eating, and Harry walks with her to the parking lot where her little red car is located.  She gives him a kiss on the cheek before she leaves and Harry can’t help but grin stupidly when she drives away.

—

In the backyard of a rich client’s lush home, Harry and Niall stand on opposite ends of a pool, using their leaf skimmers to gather the unexpected piles of leaves floating on top.  Harry isn’t shocked at the things he and Niall have seen in the many pools they’ve cleaned, but this might be the strangest one yet.

“Jesus, did they go tree trimming or something?” Niall remarks, shaking out the leaves from his net.  “It’s like they took a leaf blower and blew all the shit from ten counties over here.”

“Hey, stay focused,” Harry says as he stumbles back to get his net out of the water, “we have to vacuum and scrub the walls since we didn’t do it last week.”

“Yeah yeah,” Niall sighs, “at least we get paid today.  Gonna need that cash when me and Louis go out tonight.”

Half an hour later they’ve managed to get all the leaves out, and Harry helps Niall set up the automatic pool vacuum, which gives them some time to rest once it starts up.  In the time Harry’s gathering the wet leaves into a garbage bag, he’s distracted when Niall begins sniffing around, starting with his shirt, his armpits, and eventually Harry’s neck.

“Stop, what are you doing?” Harry laughs, holding Niall back with his arm.

“I’m smelling something really floral and it’s not coming from me,” he says, lifting his shirt again.  “Yeah, it’s definitely not me and I don’t think Louis wears that kinda stuff.”

Harry sniffs his own shirt, the familiar scent making him realize Zayn’s perfume had rubbed off on him.  She only leaned against him for a few seconds, but he didn’t think it’d be strong enough to resonate for the last few hours.

“The girl in my class, the one that works at the donut shop?  It’s her perfume.”  Harry can feel himself blushing when Niall raises a brow.  “I also asked her out on a date.”

Niall lets out an excited squeal, hugging Harry in congratulations.  “Where are you going to take her?  I can ask Louis for tips if you don’t know where to go.”

“I’m thinking of taking her to the pier with all the fun rides and stuff.  I mean, that’s a good place for a first date, right?”  Niall nods enthusiastically.  “We’ll be at the beach and we can walk around if she doesn’t want to do anything else.”

“I just feel like a proud father right now, this is so great!”  Niall playfully wipes away a tear from his eye, making Harry laugh.  “So does your hot date have a name?”

“Zayn.  Her name is Zayn,” Harry replies with a grin.  “She’s like a real life pinup girl, Niall, the prettiest one I’ve ever seen.”  Niall is clearly impressed, nodding his head in approval.  “She’s also eight months pregnant.”

Niall’s smile is frozen from shock and Harry smacks himself on the forehead for blurting it out.  Harry’s stomach churns from Niall’s impending comment, thinking Niall will either tell him to break off the date or give him a lecture about the pros and cons of dating a single mom.

“Dude, are you even _allowed_ to go out with pregnant girls?” Niall asks in a hushed tone, despite no one else around.  “I mean, what about the father and all that, won’t you get your ass kicked?”

Harry informs him that the father has been gone for some time, but Niall remains worried despite Harry’s confidence.  “She told me she doesn’t want him around and I figured it was okay if I asked her out,” Harry grins a little, “plus, she said she’d been waiting for me to do it.”

Niall sighs in a way that makes Harry second guess himself, but he knows his friend is only looking out for him.  “Just be careful, okay?  You never know if the father will come out of nowhere and snatch her away, saying he’s gonna take care of them and all that bullshit.”

“I just told you she doesn’t want his help, all right!” Harry quickly comes to her defense.  “Zayn can take care of herself and I’m just taking her out for a good time, that’s all it is.”

They pack up their supplies when they’re finished an hour later, and Niall drives the company van back to their offices.  The van idles at a red light and Niall looks over to Harry, asking, “How do you have sex with a pregnant woman, anyway?  I bet it’s gonna be a trip, bro!” he laughs, throwing his head back.  “She’ll probably have to do a reverse cowgirl so she doesn’t crush you to death.  Ooh, or maybe you could do her from behind while she’s standing up!  Yeah, I should try that with Louis, that's a good one.”

“Niall, seriously!” Harry punches him in the arm, “We’re just going on a date!”

“You have to take these things into perspective, Harold!  What’s going to happen if she gets a hot flash on the ferris wheel and says, ‘ _Harry, I’m so hot for you, I want you to fuck me three hundred feet in the air_ ’, huh?  What then!”

“Jesus Christ, I’m trying to figure out what flowers to get her and you’re already talking about air fucking!  It doesn’t always have to be about sex!”

“Okay, enough!” Niall shouts.  “There’s no need for us to shout at each other, all right?  I’m sorry I said that.”  Harry huffs and crosses his arms, turning away from Niall to avoid looking at him.  “But to be on the safe side,” Niall adds, “you should probably bring some condoms anyway.”

—

Saturday morning arrives and Harry wakes up as giddy as he’s ever been.  There’s a lovely song stuck in his head the very moment he thinks of Zayn, happily picturing himself dancing with her on the beach.  He hums the first verse to himself until he hears a hard thump on the wall next to his bed, distracting him from his daydream.  It starts out slow and rhythmic, almost in time to the song in his head, until it gradually speeds up so much that he has no choice but to get out of bed.

He passes Niall’s door to get to the bathroom, scrunching his nose at the loud moans and unusual burst of laughter vibrating through the thin walls.  It could only mean Louis spent the night, and Niall can’t control his permanent boner for her when she’s around.  Harry’s amazed at how much sex they have on a daily basis (“Louis has an orgasm like every five seconds it’s amazing,” Niall casually mentioned one day.), but it annoys him to no end when they do it while he’s in the apartment, so much to the point of him sleeping in his car or driving around until he thinks they’re done hours later.

As soon as Harry’s done relieving himself and brushing his teeth, the thumping from Niall’s room turns into a crescendo of loud, repetitive banging mixed with Niall’s guttural groans and, finally, Louis’s muffled orgasm.  The banging slows down while Harry’s washing his face, letting out a happy sigh knowing he won’t have to hear them fucking for the rest of the day.

“Barely even nine o’clock,” he mumbles under his breath when he's done, heading to the kitchen.

A box of Froot Loops calls to Harry when he gets to the kitchen pantry, distracted by his phone vibrating on the dining room table where he’d left it charging the night before.  It’s a text from Zayn ( _good morning cutie! can’t wait for tonight! :) x_ ), and Harry practically beams from joy when he replies to her ( _hiiii we’re going somewhere fun, it’ll be a blast!_ ).

Louis comes running into the kitchen a minute later, holding onto the kitchen counter for support.  “Oh Harry, I’m so sorry if we woke you up,” her voice both shaky and breathless, still clearly recovering from her orgasm.  She’s wearing one of Niall’s sweaters, a faded green top printed with a cartoon duck that hangs past her buttocks, long enough to pass for a dress.

“It’s all right,” Harry shrugs, grabbing the jug of milk from the refrigerator.  “You guys never struck me as morning sex people, though.  I always thought Niall couldn’t get it up before lunch time,” he snickers, giving himself a mental pat on the back.

“Yes, well,” she clears her throat, looking around sheepishly before she perks up.  “Oh hey, so Niall told me you’re going on a date with a pinup model named Zayn, that’s fantastic!”

“No, I meant she _dresses_ like one, I didn’t say she does actual pinup work,” Harry laughs, though he thinks she should give it a shot.  “Tonight's going to be amazing,” he beams with pride, taking his bowl of cereal to the dining table.

Louis stands still for a moment, then sits across from Harry, hesitant to say anything until he looks up.  “Niall also told me Zayn is pregnant,” she says quietly.  “Does your family know?  Your mom will have a major fit about this.”

Harry gives her an annoyed look, one that says, “They don’t need to know about it.  By the time they come home from vacation, Zayn will already have given birth and it won’t be that big of a deal.  It’s like it never happened, so to speak.”

“Right.  Okay.”  Louis nods her head as if she’s waiting for some other form of relief.  “So everything’s cool, yeah?  Like, no one’s gonna come after you for going out with Zayn and all that?”

“You sound like Niall,” he snorts with a mouthful of cereal.  “But yeah, I’m pretty much solid.”

“That’s good!” she quips with her sharp-toothed grin.  “So are you meeting up with her?”

“I’m picking her up at home.  I figure I can just take her straight to the–”

“You can’t just do that!” Louis cuts in, “If you show up to her house, her parents will want to meet you and you’ve got to be prepared for that sort of thing.  There’s no doubt her dad is probably going to grill you!  I mean, what are you going to say when he asks what you’ll be doing with his daughter?”

He starts hitting the bowl with his spoon, nervously bouncing his leg under the table.  “It’s just a date!” he whines, “I just want to take her out to dinner and go to the pier, it’s not even a big deal!”

Harry’s phone buzzes with another text from Zayn and it’s everything he’s dreading ( _nooo my dad wants to meet you :( please don’t cancel our date!_ ).  Louis takes the phone from Harry, gasping when she reads Zayn’s message.

“I’m gonna reply for you,” she says excitedly.

“No, Louis, don’t!” Harry leans over the table, but she stands up, backing away into the living room as she quickly types out her reply.  “Come on, she’s going to notice if it doesn’t sound like me!  Give it back!”

Louis keeps backing away as she types, going as far as the front door when she finally tosses Harry’s phone back to him.  Before he has a chance to see her message, Niall comes bounding into the room and jumps on Harry, making him fall over onto the couch from his weight alone.

“God, when did you turn into Tigger!” Harry strains trying to get Niall off of him.  They play fight while Louis watches in annoyance with her hands on her hips, and the two friends eventually end up on the floor where Niall cackles maniacally on top of Harry.

“Harry’s got a date, my best friend’s got a date!” Niall squeals, holding Harry’s face to kiss his nose.  “Are you ready for tonight, then?  Got all your money and condoms and all that sexy stuff?”

“I won’t if you don’t get your ass off of me in the next ten seconds,” Harry huffs, trying to regain his breathing.

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Niall climbs off of him, and Harry exhales his last remaining breath.  “Me and Louis are way excited for you, dude!  It’s your first date in what, two years?  We promise we won’t follow you around so you don’t fuck up.”

“Yeah, right,” Harry pushes Niall away, rolling over to his stomach.  “You’d probably end up fucking on the beach as far as I’m concerned.”

“Well.  No joke there,” Niall grins.  Louis lets out a loud ‘hah!’, but Niall’s statement isn’t far from the truth the way she shyly smiles at her boyfriend.

Niall pats a little beat over Harry’s ass and rises to his feet, easily lifting Louis from under her thighs and making her squeal when he carries her to the bathroom.  Harry can hear them crashing into the shower door and his phone vibrates, remembering Louis had sent a text to Zayn before he could stop her.

_wouldn’t cancel our date for the world!  i’d be honored to meet your dad :)_

_yay!  i’ll make sure he’s nice aha see you soon!_

Harry’s heart jumps when he sees the picture Zayn sends to him after her message, finding her wearing a pair of eyeglasses too big for her face and winking at the camera ( _little present before tonight!_ ).  He quickly replies ( _you wear glasses?? should i send nudes?_ ) and spends the next few minutes lying on the floor, hopelessly staring at his first and only favorite picture of Zayn.

_so?? where are your nudes! ;)_

—

At the doorstep of Zayn’s two-story white house, a jittery Harry shakes off his nervous ticks and quickly fixes himself up.  He smooths out his blue button-down shirt, pats his curls a little, and huffs his breath into his hand, making sure it still smells of fresh spearmint.  Taking a deep breath, he presses the doorbell and picks at the stems of the hydrangea bouquet he’s bought for Zayn.

He’s incredibly nervous about meeting her dad, and it doesn’t help when the doors slam open with one hell of a menacing person standing in the doorway, burning a hole right through his head with a deadly stare.  The man is clearly Zayn’s father.

“Who the hell are you?” he angrily asks.

“Uh, uh, I’m Harry, sir.  I’m here to take your daughter on a date.”

“How old are you, Harry?”

“Twenty, sir.”

“I’d believe you if you didn’t look thirty,” he scoffs, looking Harry up and down.  Harry would be offended, but he’s too scared to react with the way Zayn’s dad is hovering over him.  “What do you plan on doing with my daughter?”

“Just, uh, just gonna take her out to dinner and then hanging out at the pier,” Harry nervously swallows, “a-a-and I’ll win some prizes for her.”

Zayn’s dad pats down Harry’s arms, asking, “Where are your muscles?  Can you even fight?”

“I have really bony arms?”

“If someone steps to my daughter and you can’t fight—”

“Yaser!” a female voice echoes through the house.

Harry lets out a sigh of relief and Zayn’s dad changes his hard exterior for a softened one when Zayn’s mom comes to the door.  She happily guides Harry into her home, but not before she smacks her husband upside the head, quietly berating him for being rude to Harry.

“Zayn’s still getting ready, but she’ll be out in a moment,” she smiles, straightening the collar of his shirt.  “Those flowers are gorgeous, by the way!  She’s going to love them.”

Zayn’s parents excuse themselves when Harry’s left to wait in the living room, decorated with large brown suede couches and pictures of Zayn’s family on the walls.  Harry remembers Zayn mentioning she’s got three sisters, and he waves when he notices two of them giggling and peeking out from the wall next to him.

Not a minute later Zayn is running down the stairs and Harry straightens his posture, hiding the bouquet behind his back.  Zayn stands at the last step and repeatedly flicks her hand at her sisters, amusing Harry when she whispers at them to go away.

Harry’s in awe of Zayn when she walks up to him, wearing a dark red dress patterned with white stars, her hair styled like Veronica Lake, and of course, her signature black and white creepers.  She bites her lip and twirls the skirt of her dress a little, making Harry smile like an absolute geek in front of the most beautiful girl he’s seen.

“Like what you see?” she asks with a giggle.  Harry nods, doing his best to remain calm.  “Oh, I’m sorry about my dad, I told him to be nice and this is how he repays me!  Gosh, you must be so shaken up.”

“Just a little bit,” he laughs nervously.  “I got these for you, by the way,” Harry holds out his bouquet and Zayn lights up when she takes it in her hands.

“Harry, they’re beautiful!”

“You’re looking beautiful, too,” Harry smiles sweetly, making her blush.

“I’ll go put these in water and then we can go.  I’ll be right back!”

Zayn runs off to the kitchen and Harry turns around, only to be met with the sight of Zayn’s dad again.  He raises his brow and Harry takes a step back, looking around the room for any sign of Zayn’s mom to save him again.

“Bring my daughter back at midnight,” he growls.  “If I don’t hear her come through this door at exactly 12:01, I’ve got a big ass knife and I _will_ slice you.  Head to toe, Harry.”

Harry nervously nods when he walks away, and Zayn comes back holding a jacket in her hand, his heart fluttering when he sees one of the hydrangea flowers in her hair.  He takes a deep breath and holds his arm out for her to take like he always does when he walks with her at school.

They head towards the front door, but Zayn’s mom stops them as soon as they step outside.  “Have fun, darlings!” she says, giving both of them a kiss on the cheek.  Zayn’s father gives his daughter a hug, but not without a secret glare in Harry’s direction before letting them go.

“Oh my god, I thought I’d never get out of there,” Zayn says in relief when Harry helps her into his car.  Harry quickly runs to his side, settling in when he starts the ignition.

“So where are we going?” Zayn asks excitedly.

“We’re having dinner at a cool Brazilian place, and when we’re done, I’m winning every prize for you at the pier.  We’re not leaving until I get you all of the biggest stuffed toys they have.”

Zayn laughs and bounces in her seat, clearly giddy over their plans, and it’s doing nothing but make Harry grin stupidly like he always does when he thinks of her.

—

The beachside pier is packed full of families, as well as the odd group of indifferent teenagers, and the couples running around for a seat on the giant ferris wheel.  In a kiosk next to the bumper cars, Zayn stands a few feet away from Harry, holding up the large plastic bag full of stuffed toys to her face.  Harry’s kept his promise of winning nearly every single game he’s played so far, leaving Zayn squealing with delight every time they’re handed a prize.  Now Harry’s eyeing a target with a baseball in his right hand, tossing it around when he notices the largest stuffed plush hanging above Zayn.

“You can do it, Harry!” she cheers from the sideline.

Harry gives her a smile and he throws the ball with all his might, hearing a loud _plunk!_ and rattle of bottles that fall to the ground, a clear indication that Harry’s won the game again.  He’s handed a huge plush of Nemo as his prize, complete with his lucky fin.  Zayn applauds him for winning and he hands the plush to her, making her smile again.

“No, you keep this one,” she says excitedly, “something to remember your best game.”

Harry accepts, leaving it in the bag he takes from Zayn.  They walk towards the food stands, sharing a large bag of cotton candy between them.  Harry enjoys it when Zayn feeds him pieces of the blue and pink sugary confection, trying to bite her fingers while he’s at it.

The couple take off their shoes when they stray away from the pier, quietly walking along the shore holding each other hands, playfully kicking the water at each other when it washes beneath their feet.  Harry always knew moments like these were only made for the movies, and for a little while, his leading lady is letting him live this dream.  Maybe Zayn will let him kiss her while the water washes over them, like the second coming of Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr, though it may prove difficult with Zayn’s bump.

Zayn grows tired several minutes later, asking to rest on the steps of an empty lifeguard tower, and Harry sits beside her as they look up at the stars.

“Thank you so much for taking me out tonight,” Zayn rests her head on Harry’s shoulder.  “It’s been such a long time since I went out for fun, I’ve almost forgotten what it was like.”

“I’m just glad you even said yes,” Harry laughs, and his heart grows about ten times bigger with Zayn cutely scrunching her nose at him in response.

“Harry, do you think you could be my lamaze partner?” she asks nervously.  “Danny’s work schedule got all messed up and he can’t take me anymore, so I was wondering…” Zayn trails off, but Harry knows exactly what she means to ask him.

“Lamaze is the breathing thing, right?”  Zayn nods her head.  “I’d love to,” he says with a smile, making Zayn grin with joy.  “What’s the schedule?”

“It’s on weeknights for an hour and lasts twelve sessions.  My seventh session is Monday.”

“Doesn’t sound too bad,” Harry shrugs a little.  “How much longer ‘til the big day?”

“Probably the week of our final exam?  It’s a guessing game around that time, you just never know what day it’ll happen.”

“Are you excited about it?”

“Yes.  And no.”  Zayn sits up and rubs her belly, smiling sadly when she looks back at Harry.  “I say yes, because I won’t have this giant belly anymore and I’ll be able to do normal things again.  But then I also say no, ‘cause this baby’s been a part of me for so long that it’ll feel strange once she’s gone.”  She gives Harry a smile, quickly turning away when her eyes start to well up.  “I’m being silly, I’m sorry.”

“Hey, it’s all right,” Harry puts his arm around her when he hears Zayn sniffling, but she disguises it with a laugh.

“My relatives won’t say it to my face, but I know they talk behind my back for going through with this,” she wipes away her tears, resting her chin on her hand.  “I don’t want them treating the baby like she’s some sort of demon child.  She deserves better than that, Harry.  And she deserves parents that’ll be there for her, not someone like me who’s still a kid.  I hope she’ll understand that when she’s old enough.”

Harry can feel his heart break a little, knowing he can’t protect Zayn from harsh familial judgement as much as he wants to.  “Your relatives aren’t taking into account that it’s _your_ body and _your_ decisions to make.  It’s hard for them to accept what’s happened because they probably never pictured you having a baby at your age, let alone giving it up for adoption.  No matter how long you wait for kids after this, you’ll make a great mom one day, Zayn.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Zayn shakes her head, covering her mouth to keep from crying again.  “Where did you learn to be so sweet?” she sniffles with a half smile.  “You always know what to say to make me feel better.”

“Years of practice with my mom and older sister.  And I’ve watched way too many cheesy Lifetime movies with my dad and Niall,” he says, making her laugh.

“Will I get to meet your family?  It’s okay if you say no, everything’s been so quick,” she says, but Harry nods.

“They’re out of the country on a two-month vacation, so I can’t introduce you just yet,” he says with a slight shrug.  “I managed to text my sister, but it’s hard to get decent reception where they are.  But I know my family will love you.”

“I’m sure I’ll love them too,” she grins, “I just hope my mood swings don’t get in the way.”

“Are you ever in control of them?”

“Most of the time.  My body’s the one that’s out of control, all these hormones and stuff,” she sighs, a little disappointed.  “Liam’s exercises keep me focused, though.  And you look like you work out a little, I can see some of your muscles through your shirt,” she laughs, wrapping her hand around Harry’s bicep.

“Liam helped me get them last term,” Harry grins smugly, flexing his arm for Zayn.  “But it’s also good when I clean pools, helps me get my equipment without falling over.”

A soft crash of water from the ocean grabs their attention, and the light sea breeze that follows makes Zayn shiver in her navy blue varsity jacket.  Harry holds her a little tighter, rubbing her arm to keep her warm when she snuggles closer to him.  Zayn lets out a contented sigh and Harry faces her, noticing how soft her features look under the evening light.

Harry’s taken aback when she kisses him, her soft lips on his for the first time.  The shock of the kiss quickly wears off and Harry leans in closer, softly cupping her jaw in his hand as he slowly kisses her back, her lips still tasting of the cotton candy they’d shared earlier.  A slight brush of his tongue against Zayn’s mouth makes her giggle and the kiss lasts until she breaks away, her eyelashes tickling Harry’s cheeks when they flutter open.

“I should probably take you home, it’s nearly eleven,” Harry says too quickly when he glances at his watch.

“Oh, Harry, no!” she says, disappointed, “Did my dad tell you I have to be home by midnight?”

“Uh,” Harry tugs on his earlobe, remembering the comment about his knife, “he might have said something along those lines.”

“He is such a clown sometimes, I swear!” she bursts out laughing, but Harry’s still confused.  “I guess he just doesn’t want the baby to take after me, a little night owl.”

Harry helps her to her feet when she tries to stand up, wiping away the excess sand from the bottom of her dress.  “Do all of your clothes have patterns on them?  I never thought to ask until right now.”

“Took you long enough to notice!” she grins, twirling her skirt a little.  “But I have solid color outfits, you know.  I’m not _that_ ostentatious.”

“Ooh, that’s a big word, even for the baby,” Harry jokes as she pushes him away in jest. 

Harry takes her back home by 11:30, and they slowly walk up the driveway back to her house with her prize winnings.  They’ve got their fingers intertwined and Harry wants to spend the last few minutes he has with Zayn before her dad turns him into a plate of boy-shaped sashimi.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Harry asks when they reach her front door.

“Yeah, I have to go to a silly party for one of my younger cousins,” she rolls her eyes with a scoff.  “It’ll be boring, but you’ll keep me entertained, won’t you?”

“Sure, maybe I’ll even send you nude pictures,” he jokingly replies.

“You were supposed to send them to me this morning, liar!”  Zayn flicks his nose, making Harry pout his lips in remorse.  “I can’t trust you if you’re going to lie about nudes, I take that very seriously.”

“You can trust me plenty!”  Harry whines, and Zayn puts her hands on his shoulders, bringing him down for a quick kiss.  “How much do you want to see if you keep kissing me like this?”

“Ooh, this is a tough decision to make,” she inhales sharply with a lip bite.  “I want to see everything from the neck up.”

Harry bursts out laughing and he kisses Zayn again, smiling when she bites his lower lip.  “Good night, Harry.”

Zayn unlocks the door and sets her bag of winnings aside, handing Harry his plush of Nemo before she gives him a final wave.  Walking back to his car, Harry excitedly punches the air when he jumps up, bowing in thanks and blowing kisses to no one in particular.

—

Monday night arrives and Harry’s sitting beside Zayn on the couches of the recreation center where the lamaze class is being held.  Harry yawns and puts his arm around Zayn’s shoulder, eating from a box of cookies for a snack with a large pillow next to him.  They talk about school while they watch young children walking around with their parents, and Harry notices Zayn seems to be the only pregnant woman in sight.

Zayn isn’t wearing one of her signature patterned dresses tonight, donning a loose white shirt that hangs from her shoulder and a pair of grey sweats instead.  She leans over and rests her head on the crook of Harry’s neck, catching a glimpse of her bra strap falling from her shoulder, his eyes widening when he sees a little bit of her cleavage.

“Pervert, I saw you looking,” she mumbles against his neck, and Harry breaks into a grin.

“I didn’t mean to, it was in my peripheral!”

“It’s okay, I wanted you to look.”  Zayn bites the skin under Harry’s jaw, making him yelp.  “That was payback!”

Harry rubs his neck, shaking his head at Zayn covering her mouth as she laughs.  A tall woman with a long ponytail approaches them, briefly greeting Zayn before guiding them to a small room decorated with anti-drug posters and a standing skeleton in the corner.

“So I see you have a new partner, Zayn!  Is Danny all right?” the coach asks as she sets up her space on the open floor.

“He’s fine, something came up with his work schedule,” Zayn wiggles her feet.  “But thankfully I have my boyfriend Harry for the rest of the sessions.”

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you, Harry!” she says enthusiastically, and Harry gives her a wave.  “We’ll be starting soon, go ahead and set up your things.”

Harry kneels on the floor with Zayn’s pillow, setting up a comfortable spot in the middle of the room, and helps Zayn settle into her seat.  He sits beside her with his hand on her knee as she taps away on her phone, and shows him a picture of a sonogram.

“It’s the baby,” she says fondly.  “Gosh, to think she was so much smaller than that just a few months ago.”

“She’ll be beautiful like you,” Harry says lovingly, and Zayn pushes him away, hiding her smile when he gives her a kiss on the cheek.

“That was so cool of Liam to offer us extra credit if we write about this class,” Zayn says, digging through Harry’s box of cookies.  “I’ll probably write like, ten pages documenting every single thing,” she laughs.

The room soon fills up with more women and their partners, some who didn’t look pregnant and others who looked as though they might be carrying quintuplets.  Zayn seems to be friends with the women around her and Harry sits in silence, mostly staving off the venomous stare of an older woman sitting next to him.

It’s an entirely new experience for Harry, learning the breathing techniques Zayn can use when she goes into labor, as well as the medical options available if she feels it’s necessary for the health of the baby.  Half an hour into the class, Zayn puts her hands on opposites sides of her belly, and giggles when she looks at Harry.

“Everything okay?” he quietly asks.

Zayn nods excitedly and takes his hand, putting it directly over her bump.  “Do you feel that?” she asks, biting her lip.  Harry keeps still for a moment, until his eyes widen when he feels a little thump against his hand.

“Is she—oh wow, she’s kicking!  This is so cool!” Harry exclaims, and laughs when he feels another thump.

It’s a strange feeling all over, especially the endless waves of goosebumps spiking through his entire body.  Or maybe it’s his heart bursting wide open when his imagination runs wild with thoughts of being married to Zayn and having children of their own when they’re older.  He can see the look of elation in Zayn’s eyes and Harry wonders, deep down, if he could be a good father to a child that doesn’t belong to him, but would love as his own.

—

Harry takes Zayn home as soon as the class ends, and she does the unthinkable by inviting him up to her bedroom.  He protests, fearing her dad may jump out of nowhere with his rumored knife, or that her sisters might catch them together and tear him to pieces.

“No one’s home, Harry, it’s okay!” Zayn laughs as she drags him up the stairs.  “My family won’t be back until later, I always have the house to myself on Monday nights.”

“Just so you know, if your dad catches us, I’m blaming everything on you.”

“Yeah, but it’s my word over yours, especially if Dad keeps pretending to hate you.”

Zayn opens the door to her bedroom, and Harry’s in awe of how much it looks like it came out of an Ikea show room.  She has books neatly stacked on shelves, picture frames of her family hanging on the wall above her desk, and a full-length mirror attached to the wall taped with vintage pictures of pinup girls wearing the same dresses she wears to school.

Sitting on her dresser is a cut out of a model lying on a blue chaise lounge, wearing a white long flowing dress with high heels, the low neckline showing off a peek of her cleavage.  The hem of her dress sits atop her thighs to show her long legs, her mischievous wink making Harry bite his tongue when he imagines Zayn doing the same pose.

“So, what do you think of my room?” Zayn asks, sitting at the foot of her bed.

“It’s really clean,” he says, looking around one more time, “and a lot nicer than mine.”  Harry lies beside her in bed, linking his hands together and letting his feet hang off the edge.

“Harry?”  He props himself up to face Zayn.  “I really can’t thank you enough for dealing with me these past few weeks.  I mean, I’ve got my family and all, but I’m so glad you’ve been here to help, too.”

“Hey, don’t mention it,” he smiles at her, sweeping some of her hair over her shoulder.  “I enjoy being with you and I’ll do anything I can to help.”

Zayn presses their lips together for a kiss, smiling when she bites his lower lip.  He trails one of his hands down the side of her body, leaving it to rest on her hip when she moves closer to him.  Harry moves forward, but immediately pulls back, remembering he can’t lie on top of her.

Instead, Zayn surprises Harry by taking his hand from her hip, moving it under her shirt and over her thin lace bra.  Harry opens his eyes and makes a noise of protest, but Zayn makes him squeeze the soft flesh under his hand, and she moans into his mouth when her nipple hardens between the webbing of his index and middle finger.

“Zayn, am I allowed to do this?” he asks as she kisses his neck.

“You don’t want to touch my boobs?” she laughs.

“I do, but,” he swallows, sliding his hand off her breast, “I’m not sure how I can get you off.”

The pad of Harry’s middle finger brushes against her nipple and she shivers a little, kissing Harry again a little more aggressively.  “It’s okay, I just wanted you to touch me for a little bit.”

“I think I’ve just cockblocked both of us.”

“You butt head,” she laughs, “forget about it, okay?  I’m a big girl, I can do it myself.”

Harry looks around in suspicion, shifting his eyes between Zayn and her delicate fingers.  “Can I watch?” he asks excitedly, and Zayn bops him over the head with one of her pillows.

They kiss for a few more minutes until Harry’s phone goes off, scaring him half to death from the customized text tone of Niall screaming out his name ( _we need milk :( can’t buy cuz i left my wallet at Louis’s place!_ ).  Zayn sighs when she reads the message, taking Harry downstairs despite asking him to stay.

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow, don’t worry,” Harry assures her.

“I know,” she snorts, giving him a peck on the chin, “it’s just a countdown ‘til I get you to touch my boob again.”

Harry throws his head back laughing and kisses her one more time before he finally leaves.  On the way back to his car, his phone scares him again ( _can u ask Zayn if u can eat cereal with breast milk?_ ), rolling his eyes while typing out his response ( _why don’t you milk your own tits and see what it tastes like_ ) and drives to the nearest market for a gallon of milk that’ll last them at least three weeks.

—

Class presentations and Liam’s lessons continue throughout the week, and so does Harry’s commitment to Zayn.  Harry brings along a small notepad when he takes Zayn to lamaze class, wanting to keep track of what he’ll write for his extra credit paper.  He wants it to be as truthful as possible, though the little notes he makes on the corners writing his and Zayn’s initials is something he’ll keep to himself.

The night of Zayn’s tenth session on Friday is a tiring one for her, having worked all day at the donut shop.  She can barely stay awake, but Harry stays on alert, making sure he keeps her occupied enough to keep her from nodding off.  During the car ride back to Zayn’s house, she falls asleep, and her stomach growls louder than he’s ever heard it.  He drives over to the nearest market, waking her up when he parks his car.

“Oh my goodness, how long was I out?” Zayn yawns, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Just about fifteen minutes,” Harry says.  “Your stomach was making a lot of noise, so I stopped here if you want me to go get food.”

Zayn sits up and looks around in surprise, noticing the big red letters of the market’s sign just out of the window.  “I’ll go with you,” she says, and unbuckles her seat belt.  Harry asks her to wait, running over to her side to help her out of the car.

Harry takes a basket as soon as they enter the market, and Zayn runs off with him to the deli section where she immediately orders two pounds of potato wedges and ten pieces of fried chicken.  Zayn ogles the lavish cake displays nearby, telling Harry all the flavors she’d eat as soon as she gives birth.

Harry loses sight of her when she disappears for a few seconds and he nearly topples over when Zayn drops two large jugs of apple juice into the basket.

“Are you going to drink all of that?” he asks in surprise.

“No, I’m using it to disguise my urine for my next drug test,” she replies sarcastically.  “I’ll give you a glass from the goodness of my heart.”

Harry playfully pouts his lips and Zayn kisses them before they head to the self checkout to pay for their food.  As they’re leaving, Harry spots two familiar faces in the parking lot, and one of them runs up to him and hugs him as tightly as possible.

“Niall!” Harry laughs, trying to hug his friend back with the bags in his hands.  “What are you doing out here?”

“Stocking up on supplies for Louis!”  Niall clears his throat, bringing Harry closer.  “She got her period while I was–well, there’s no time for details, but it got pretty messy.”

“Jesus, you pig!” Harry nearly gags from the image alone.  Niall straightens up when Louis nudges him and Harry introduces Zayn to his two friends.

“Wow, you’re Zayn!  It’s so great to finally meet you!” Niall beams, excitedly shaking her hand.

“Harry, she’s gorgeous!  Even more than I already imagined,” Louis exclaims, giving Zayn a hug.  “Believe us, Zayn, Harry _cannot_ stop talking about how pretty and smart you are, always calling you his pinup girl,” Louis giggles and Zayn’s speechless when she looks at Harry.

“ _You guys,_ that was supposed to be between us,” Harry shuffles his feet with his head down, but Niall puts an arm around him, tilting Harry’s chin up with a finger.

“Gosh, I-I don’t know what to say!” Zayn says bashfully, her cheeks reddened by the compliment.  “Harry talks about you in class and I just can’t help but laugh at all the stories he tells me.  You’re absolutely wild!”

Zayn’s stomach growls loudly, making Niall and Louis take a step back in surprise.  “I’m guessing your baby doesn’t like strangers?” Niall jokingly asks.

“Well, she’s been kind to Harry for the last month, she’s not a bad girl just yet,” Zayn winks, making Niall laugh.  She gives a strained expression when her stomach growls even louder a second time, and Harry takes her by the hand, exchanging goodbyes with his friends and heading back to his car.

“Your friends are so nice!  And they’re really so cute together,” Zayn says when Harry starts the car.  “Louis is such a babe, oh wow.  I can see why Niall likes her a lot, he’s a cutie himself.”

“I honestly don’t know what I’d do without them,” Harry gives her a fond smile.

“D’you think we could do a double date with them one night?  We’d have such a great time.”

“I think they’d like that,” Harry grins, leaning over to kiss Zayn.  “But right now, let’s take care of that stomach of yours.  It’ll eat me whole the way it’s growling right now.”

“You don’t mind if I take care of you before you go home, do you?” Zayn bats her eyelashes, confusing Harry.

Zayn scoots over in her seat, running her hand up Harry’s inner thigh and leaves it over his crotch.  Harry swallows hard, tightly gripping the steering wheel when he feels Zayn’s hand rub over his jeans.  “Just a little thank you present, Harry,” she whispers seductively, “or a _big_ one, in your case.”

—

Zayn’s twelfth and final session of lamaze class has finally arrived, and Harry’s floating on air over Zayn’s accomplishment.  He’s excited she’s come this far, and Zayn’s overjoyed that the baby will be arriving in the next two weeks.  They celebrate with a night out at the end of the school week, having dinner at Zayn’s favorite vegetarian restaurant and walking around the local shopping center afterward to pass the time.

As part of Zayn’s reward for a week of healthy meals and exercise, Harry buys a large box of vanilla creme puffs for her, topped with powdered sugar and streaks of chocolate syrup.  Harry’s entranced when Zayn licks the sugar off of the pastry, though he snaps out of it when she devours the entire puff in one bite.  Harry bites into a puff, caught off guard when a little bit of the cream falls onto his finger.  Before he can even think to get a napkin, Zayn grabs his hand and bops it over his nose to his surprise.

“Oops!” she laughs as she licks the tip of his nose clean.

They pack up the leftover box of creme puffs and take a stroll into a large courtyard featuring a large mosaic fountain, lined with pots of gardenia flowers leading up to a winding staircase.  Harry bravely steals one of the gardenias, carefully placing it behind Zayn’s left ear.  He can’t help but adore how beautiful Zayn looks with flowers in her hair, all done up in a little beehive with her purple halter dress.  The reflection of the fountain highlights the color in her eyes, her sun kissed skin glowing even under the dimmest of lights.

A crescendo of voices trails down the staircase and the couple turn around at a familiar voice, immediately running up to Liam as he walks down the steps with several people behind him.

“Hey guys!” Liam happily greets them.  “Didn’t think I’d see you here!”

“Could say the same for you,” Harry laughs as they hug.  “You out on a date?”

“Nah, just escaped my cousin’s birthday dinner in the restaurant upstairs.  Little bastard just turned thirteen,” he says with a snort.  “How about you two?  You’re dressed up real nice this evening.”

“I finished my lamaze sessions and I’m celebrating with my partner,” Zayn points her head at Harry, who shrugs with a smile.

“Hey, congratulations!  Oh and don’t forget about your papers, I really can’t wait to read them, it’s going to be–”  Liam looks off in the distance, leaving Harry and Zayn to ask if Liam’s lost his mind.  “I’m not crazy, okay!  There’s someone who keeps moving from plant to plant like he’s trying not to be seen.”

Harry and Zayn both turn around at the same time, but don’t see anyone where Liam is pointing.  Liam is adamant someone is lurking in the shadows until Zayn gasps and hides behind a confused Harry.

“Zayn, quit hiding and face me!” a voice booms over them.

Harry stands up a little straighter and Liam insistently tugs on his arm.  “That’s him, he’s the guy!” he whispers.

The person in front of Harry is most likely a poster child for the unhygienic loser and looks as bad as he smells with his long, stringy black hair, grey ripped jeans, wearing a loose flannel shirt with an oddly trimmed beard.  He reeks of cheap cologne, its scent so pungent that Harry and Liam have to put their hands to their faces to cover their noses.

“Who are you and what do you want with Zayn?” Harry sternly asks behind his hand.

“I’m Alex, the father of her child, that’s who!” he shouts back.

“You swear you’re the father, you fucking leech!” Zayn screams out, pushing Harry and Liam aside.  “How dare you show your face around here, even after I told you to stay away!”

“How can you do this, Zayn?  You should have told me you were having my child, I’d take care of you!”

An internal blast to the heart brings Harry to reality, realizing his worst fear has come to life: that the biological father has come back to take Zayn away from him.  Harry starts breathing too fast, his hands clenched into fists if Alex tries anything stupid.  But as much as Harry wants to fight off Alex, he can’t do anything other than hold Zayn back from attacking him.

“Oh, there you go spouting that bullshit I knew you’d say!” Zayn growls with her teeth bared.  “What are you going to do, huh?  Tell me you’re a changed man?  That you got a real job instead of asking everyone for money?  You are so full of shit!”

“No, just hear me out, I swear I’ve really actually changed!” Alex pleads, but Zayn doesn’t buy his story, and she pushes him hard enough to make him fall to the ground.

“Changed what, your fucking shirt!?” she screams, kicking him in the leg.

“Zayn, stop!” Harry and Liam hold her back, but she’s doing everything she can to break free from their combined strength.

“You listen to me and you listen well because I will not tell you again,” she says, pointing her finger at Alex.  “You and your stupid friends can go straight to hell after what you did to my family.  You’re nothing but a pathetic loser who leeched off of me and got me pregnant.  Oh and guess what?  There is no fucking way in hell you are coming near me or my baby because she does not need a pathetic piece of shit like you in her life!”

Harry and Liam look at each other in shock, hearing Zayn speak her mind for the first time.  Harry wants to applaud and cheer for his girl, but it’d be inappropriate, especially when she’s on the brink of breaking her ex-boyfriend’s neck in half.   _I’d take the blame if she killed him_ , Harry thinks.

“I swear, I-I’ll clean up and get a real job and we can buy diapers for little Heidi and—”

“Heidi!?” Zayn whispers in disbelief, “Your stupid ex-girlfriend you were fucking behind my back the entire time!?  Fuck Heidi!”

“I swear I’m not seeing her, the name just popped in my head!” Alex says pathetically.

“Dude, just give up!” Harry shouts in disbelief, “You’re making yourself look like an asshole!”

“Hey, that baby inside of her is mine and I’m taking her back!  She doesn’t belong to you!”

“Don’t you fucking disrespect Harry like that!” Zayn shrieks.  “I belong to Harry now and the only thing you’ll be taking back is your dick when I kick it off the fucking planet!” Zayn tries to kick Alex again, but Harry intervenes in time, taking her far enough to keep her from inflicting anymore damage.

“Zayn, you have to calm down, I’m not taking you home like this,” Harry says calmly, but Zayn’s got her claws out, ready to strike again.

Alex rises to his feet and Zayn breaks away from Harry, leaving him and Liam to chase after her.  She holds her hand out to stop them, saying she needs to take care of this once and for all.

“Just give me one more chance, I know I can take care of you.  I was half of you once and that baby is half of me,” Alex says unconvincingly, but Zayn scoffs and pushes him away again, her jaw so tense it’d shatter titanium.

“He’s only got half a dick at this point,” Liam mumbles under his breath to Harry.

“I gave you too many chances, Alex, and you fucked up big time when you tried to come after my sister,” Zayn growls menacingly.  “The only chance I’m going to give is for you to walk away and never come back.  If you even try to weasel your way back into my life, I will stick a knife in your neck and leave your body to rot in the sewers where you fucking belong.”

Alex is visibly shaken, and he looks at Zayn one last time before he takes a step back and walks away in silence.  Zayn waits until Alex is out of sight and she breaks down, sobbing behind her hands.  Harry runs to her side and holds her tight, unsure of what to do or what to say.  Harry looks to Liam for some kind of comfort, and all Liam can do is put a reassuring hand on Harry’s shoulder.

—

Half an hour later, Harry’s sitting on the doorstep of Zayn’s house, quietly sharing the rest of the creme puffs with Zayn’s younger sister, Waliyha.  Harry chews slowly, trying to get his mind off of what happened, but the events keep replaying despite his efforts.  The echoes of Zayn’s screams makes his stomach curdle, tossing the half-eaten puff back into the box in disgust.

“Is she going to be okay?” Waliyha asks.

Harry shakes his head.  “I’m not sure, she was really upset earlier.”

“My sister’s not always like this, she’s usually very happy.”

“I know,” Harry smiles, “it’s one of the things I like about her.”

“She always talks about you, how sweet you are and everything.  My family and I like you a lot better, even if Dad pretends to hate you.”

Harry laughs softly, running his hand through his hair when he asks, “What did Alex do to her?  To _all_ of you?”

“He lied a lot.  And he stole from us, selling my mom’s jewelry for beer money.  Zayn was only with him for three weeks, but he just kept sticking around when she broke it off, and we couldn’t get rid of him until she finally got a restraining order against him,” Waliyha laughs, shaking her head.  “But it was really a huge shock when she found out about the baby, you can only imagine how much she cried.”

“Zayn said that he tried to come after you, what did she mean?”

Waliyha shuts her eyes and Harry immediately apologizes, but she smiles and puts a hand on his knee instead.  “Alex hit on me and it freaked me out.  I started screaming at him to get away and Zayn went apeshit when I told her what he was doing.”

The front door opens before Harry can ask another question, and he stands to attention when he sees her dad standing in the doorway.  “Waliyha, go keep your sister company,” he says, pointing his head in the direction of the staircase.  She does as she’s told, giving Harry a smile before she runs off to see her sister.

Zayn’s dad steps outside and stands in front of Harry, his presence as intimidating as ever.  But he surprises Harry by letting out a sigh, along with a worried expression only a father could have for their child.

“Thank you for bringing Zayn home,” he says softly.  “I know I’ve been harsh on you, but that pathetic excuse for a human who got my baby girl pregnant is the reason I’ve been treating you this way.  I refuse to let her get caught up in something like that again.  Surely you understand.”

Harry feels relieved, and nods his head in agreement.  “Your daughter is really a strong woman, she’s one of the strongest I know and I can’t help but admire her for it.”  Her dad smiles, holding his head up high.  “I know you want to keep her safe, but I can assure you all I want to do is make her happy.  I’m really speechless seeing her like this.”

Zayn’s dad sighs, folding his arms and looking at the ground.  “She likes you a lot, Harry.  And I really can’t keep up with this angry facade when you’ve done nothing but show respect for me and my family.  You’ve been so patient with her and the baby, it takes a lot of guts to do what you’ve done these last few weeks.”

“Harry?”  He turns around, finding Waliyha peeking from behind the door.  “Zayn wants to see you.”  Her dad gives Harry a nod, and he jets off to Zayn’s bedroom, finding her lying down with a box full of tissues beside her.

“You okay?” Harry asks, kneeling back on his feet beside her bed.  Her beehive is gone, and Harry sweeps her long hair over her shoulder.  She’s wearing the eyeglasses he had only seen once, the ones that were too big for her face, but made her look so endearingly sweet.

“Better, now that you’re here,” Zayn sniffles with a weak smile.  “I’m so sorry you had to see me like that, Harry.  I think I might have stressed out the baby and I feel absolutely horrible about it.”

“Hey, don’t say that,” Harry places his hand over her bump, lightly rubbing it with his thumb.  “I’m sure she’ll be okay if you don’t do it all the time.”  Harry leans a little closer to Zayn's bump, whispering consoling words to the baby that makes Zayn giggle.

“That was the first and last time, I can promise her that much,” she says, putting her hand over Harry’s.  “I know you saw a different side of me tonight, but I’m not like that at all, I promise I’m not.  I don’t want it to change the way you feel about me.”

“Zayn, what I saw tonight was amazing.”  She blinks, astonished, as if she thought Harry was going to say they should break up and never see each other again.  Not in a million years.  “I saw my girlfriend defend herself and all I can think is: you’re one hell of a badass chick and it’s making me like you even more.”

Zayn squeals a little and lifts her glasses to sit on her head, excitedly leaning over to kiss Harry with her free hand gripping the back of his messy curls.  Harry cups the side of her face, leaving a trail of light kisses along her neck and just above her breasts.  She lets out a sigh from his touch and Harry retraces his kisses all the way back to her lips.

“You ate the rest of the creme puffs, didn’t you?  There was a bit of powdered sugar on your lip,” Zayn says with a giggle, and Harry licks his lips, giving her a wink.

“By the way, I think your dad’s okay with me now,” Harry says optimistically, “he didn’t threaten to kill me like all the other times I’ve been here.”

“Harry, that’s great!” she exclaims with a hug.  “I know he was doing it to protect me, but he can’t do it forever,” she sighs, lying back on her pillows.

“I’m sorry I didn’t help you,” Harry adds sheepishly, sitting next to her now.  “You went off on Alex and I just stood by like an idiot.  I feel awful that I didn’t do anything to defend you.”

“No, it’s okay!  It’s not your fault, it really isn’t,” Zayn sits up to face him, putting her glasses back on.  “It was my fight and I had to end it right then and there.  You’ve done more than enough by being here for me when I need you most.  Gosh, I was sure you’d get tired of me after two days, but it’s been five weeks and look where we are now.”

Harry ducks his head to smile, the realization that they’ve done so much in such a short amount time gives him hope that she’ll still want to be with him even after the term ends.  He hasn’t been with that many people in his twenty years of life, but he knows Zayn has changed him, and he’s not about to let her out of his sight.

“I’m glad you asked to sit next to me in class,” Harry chuckles softly, “if you sat somewhere else, I’m sure I’d just be staring at you from across the room instead of doing something about it.  Who knows if we’d even be together at this point.”

“In fairness, I didn’t even see you until I walked up to the desk,” Zayn laughs.  “My feet were killing me from walking so far and I was so desperate to sit down, but there you were.”  They link their hands together and Zayn rests her head on Harry’s shoulder, letting out a little sniffle.  Harry kisses her temple, detecting the light scent of gardenia where the stolen flower once sat.

“I wish I’d met you first, Harry.  Things would be different, but I know we’d be happy.”

With her father’s permission, Harry stays the night in Zayn’s room, keeping her warm from the summer breeze that passes through the open window next to her bed.  Zayn turns over towards Harry and he can’t help but leave light butterfly kisses around her face, every one of them as a promise that he’ll always be there for her.

—

There’s a bad feeling in Harry’s stomach the day after he stays with Zayn.  He feels anxious about something, but it can’t possibly be about his final, not when Liam specifically told the class it would be an open-note exam.  The feeling certainly doesn’t pertain to work or anything else that’s going on while he’s at home, but Harry can’t shake it off, even with Zayn’s encouraging texts when he tells her about it ( _well if you’re still feeling bad i can lend a helping hand!_ ).

Later that night, Harry falls asleep on the couch while watching a movie, awoken by Niall opening the front door.  Harry’s phone tells him it’s half past three in the morning when he looks at it, and he’s not surprised his friend is coming this late from a date with Louis.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize you were still up,” Niall says, walking to the kitchen.

“It’s cool, don’t worry,” Harry loudly yawns, turning off the television.  “How was your date?”

“Good, if you can call it one.”

“Something bad happen?”

“Not really?” Niall says in a nonchalant tone.  He takes a seat next to Harry on the couch, taking a drink from his water bottle.  “See, Louis had the house to herself, right?  So we were having sex in her living room and when I had her bent over the couch–” Harry groans in annoyance and Niall tugs on his arm to get him to stop.  “There’s a point to this story, I promise!”

“Well, get to it!  Don’t you guys do anything else besides fuck all the time?”

Niall opens his mouth, but stops himself and bats his eyes at Harry, giving his friend a coy little smile.  “Harry, I get it.  And really, it’s okay!  You don’t have to be mad.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asks, genuinely confused.

“You’re mad ‘cause you still haven’t had sex with Zayn and you’re taking it out on me.”

“Oh my god, Niall!” Harry clenches his hands, ready to wring Niall’s neck.  “We are not having this conversation again!”

Harry’s blaring ringtone goes off, scaring the bejesus out of the two friends.  Zayn’s name flashes across the screen of his phone and Harry’s heart races, knowing she rarely ever calls before nine in the morning.  Niall asks if Harry’s going to pick up, and he does, nervously bringing the phone to his ear.

“Harry?” Zayn’s voice echoes, her irregular breathing a cause for him to panic.

“Zayn, what’s wrong?  Are you okay?”

“I’m at the hospital,” she lets out a breath and inhales again.  “I think it’s the baby.”

“Holy shit!  Oh my god, I’ll be there as fast as I can,” Harry panics.  Zayn tells him the address of the hospital and Harry immediately runs to his room, changing into his jeans and grabbing his keys off his dresser.

“Harry, is everything okay?  What’s up with Zayn?” Niall asks when they bump into each other in the hallway.

“She’s in labor, I have to go!  I’ll call if anything happens!”

It takes less than five seconds for Harry to get into his car, start the ignition, and zoom out of the parking lot.  The hospital is half an hour away and Harry’s going as fast as 90 miles per hour along the sparse freeway.  Every mile he’s closer to the hospital makes his heart beat overtime, his adrenaline rush fueling his desperation to be at Zayn’s side.

—

Harry gets to the hospital’s back entrance in twenty minutes, running all over the place until he finds Zayn’s family waiting in the lobby.  They’re just as worried as he is, especially Zayn’s mom who’s in tears when Harry gives her a hug.  Waliyha takes Harry aside into the adjacent hallway, doing her best to keep him calm.

“How long have you guys been waiting?” Harry asks in a hushed tone.  The hallway they’re in is eerily quiet, save for the buzzing of the fluorescent lights above them.

“Just about an hour.  She’s been with her doctor since we got here.”

“How far apart are her contractions?”

“Oh, she never mentioned any,” Waliyha says in surprise.  “All she said was that it felt like her stomach was squeezing itself, so I’m not sure what’s going on.”

Harry hangs his head back, covering his face with his hands.  There’s really nothing he can do at this point but wait with Zayn’s family and hope she’ll be all right.  He’s frustrated that none of the nurses will give him any updates, and the wait seems like an eternity until a tall female doctor walks out with a still very pregnant Zayn several minutes later.  The doctor takes Zayn’s parents aside and Harry runs up to Zayn, giving her a relieved kiss.

“It was indigestion,” she says with a weakened smile.  “Silly me had too much to eat for dinner last night and I mistook the gas for labor pains.”

“I’m just glad you’re both okay, you scared me and Niall when you called.”

“I feel so awful making you come all this way and it turned out to be nothing,” Zayn tears up, but Harry lets her know that he doesn’t mind and gives her a kiss.

The doctor briefly speaks with Zayn and Harry overhears their conversation, advising Zayn to watch how much she eats and to take it easy for the rest of the day.  While they walk to the parking lot, Harry insists to Zayn that he’ll stay with her, but she implores him to go home, joking that she’ll only annoy him with petty requests.

“That’s what this is about, isn’t it?  Me helping you?”

“Yes, but this is _me_ helping _you_ now,” Zayn assures him.  “Niall’s waiting for you and I want you to get your sleep.  Don’t spend your day worrying about me, I promise I’ll be fine.”

“Harry, darling, we’ve got to go now,” Zayn’s mom gives him a warm hug, softly pinching his pink cheeks when they pull away.  “Come to the shop later this afternoon, I’ll be making some special treats for you and your friends, okay?”

Harry waves at Zayn as she takes off with her family in their SUV, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his hoodie when he hears a crunch of paper.  He’s surprised when he finds a note written in Zayn’s handwriting, realizing she must have slipped it when he wasn’t looking.  Harry doesn’t cry that often, but his heart nearly bursts when he reads what she’s written to him.

_I wish I knew what I’ve done to deserve someone as wonderful as you._

—

It’s past two in the afternoon when Harry’s in the dining room with his laptop, furiously typing his extra credit paper on a word document.  He’s only had a banana and one of Niall’s protein shakes to quell his hunger, and it’s enough to keep him going to get the assignment done before he heads off with Niall and Louis to visit the donut shop in a few hours.

Harry’s family managed to call him up just before he started writing his paper, and he finally told them about Zayn, much to their gossipy delight.  He did his best to leave out any mention of Zayn’s pregnancy, but found he was unable to defend himself when he casually mentioned Zayn’s labor scare.

“Baby, how can your girlfriend be nine months pregnant if you’ve only known her for six weeks!?” his mother screamed on the other end, followed by Gemma’s loud gasp.

“Ma, it’s not like that!” he said exasperated.  “It’s better if I explain this to you in person.  It’s complicated and confusing and it’s crazy enough that I’m willing to stand by her side from start to finish.”

“See, now what’s wrong with that?  I told you Harry’s no quitter,” Harry’s dad said in agreement, only to be met with a loud ‘tsk!’ from his mom.

Gemma doesn’t add much to the conversation, chiming in with, “If I find out from Niall that he messed around at a party, I swear on Mom’s credit card I will–”

“Harry’s got his own credit card, I was the one who got it for him,” his dad quipped.

“Dad, please!  He’s taking care of a pregnant woman with a child that isn’t even his!  How is this a good thing?”  Gemma’s trying hard to make a point, but Harry’s already heard this from Niall, and if he rolled his eyes hard enough they’d fall out on their own.

Harry’s mother shushed Gemma, adding, “We won’t be home for another two weeks, but as soon as we are, we want to meet this girl.”

“You will, Mom,” Harry rubbed his eyes, masking his annoyance, “she’s been waiting to meet all of you for the last three weeks.”

“Oh, my darling precious angel and his first real girlfriend!  This is so exciting!”

“First?  He’s had two before her,” Gemma huffed.

“Except he was fifteen and they were awful, darling.  And it’s not like your old boyfriends were any better!  But Zayn sounds just lovely, I’m sure of it.”  Harry’s mom suddenly went into Hysterical Mother Mode, and Harry waited about two minutes for her to cry, regain her composure, and act like her normal self again.

“Be good, Harry.  We’ll see you soon enough,” his dad said cheerfully.

“And give our love to Niall and Louis!” his mom shouted before they hung up.

After a quick proofread with the spell check option, Harry is finished with his paper an hour later, ready to take another nap as soon as he lands face first into the cushions of the couch.  His phone vibrates in the pocket of his basketball shorts, too lazy to check his texts while he sleeps for the next twenty minutes.

**New message from Zayn**  
 _aha the baby kicked! i think she misses you :*_  
 _come to the shop soon cutie :)_

—

Under a tarpaulin tent on the roof of Tricia’s Donuts, Harry and Zayn hide away from everyone around them, spending nearly half an hour talking and holding hands while they share a strawberry milkshake.  Despite being advised to rest, Zayn took it upon herself to help her mom make a special batch of donuts for Harry and his friends, as gratitude for the early morning hospital visit.  Zayn feels a lot better now and it’s definitely working to Harry’s benefit whenever they kiss.

“I’m so glad you’re here, I was going to lose it if I had to make one more chocolate covered donut hole,” Zayn shudders a little.

Harry laughs, resting his hand around Zayn’s waist.  His other hand picks at her blue and white apron, her name embroidered in red cursive letters on the lower left corner.  “Louis will thank you for the holes, she was eating them like crazy before we ran up here.”

“Good!” Zayn bites her lip, “My plan worked and now there’s more of you for me.”

The couple kiss again for a few minutes until Niall and Louis burst through the door leading to the roof, shouting and cheering for them when they spot Harry and Zayn.  They’re waving their hands for Harry to come over, indicating their time is up when they walk up to the tent.

“Looks like this is my cue to let you go,” Zayn says sadly, pouting her lips as she rises to her feet.

“Now, Zayn, there’s always lots of Harry to keep with you!” Louis jokingly replies.  “Has he even sent you his nudes?”

Zayn’s mouth drops open, putting her hands on her hips as she and Louis give Harry a disappointed expression.  “He actually hasn’t,” Zayn holds her head up defiantly, “he keeps saying he will, but never delivers.  There’s got to be something under those ball-hugging jeans he wears all the time.”

“Watch me work, Zayn,” Louis winks at her, pulling out her phone.

“What do you think you’re doing, Louis?” Harry steps back, pointing at her phone in fear, “Put that back in your pocket!”

Louis sneers at him, tossing her hair back when she screams, “Niall!  Take off his clothes!”

Harry’s taken aback by the sheer volume of Louis’s voice, nearly falling over when he feels a tug on his backside.  His thighs are suddenly feeling a bit drafty when he realizes, in milliseconds, that Niall’s pulled his jeans down to his knees.

“Niall, what the fuck!” Harry squeaks, pulling his jeans back up as Zayn and Louis scream with laughter.

“Louis made me do it,” Niall points across the way, “I do what she asks and we have sex after, you know the drill.”

“You’re fucking pussy whipped is what you are,” Harry grumbles, adjusting his balls when he settles his jeans over his waist.  “Why can’t you think with your head for once and not your dick!?”  Niall stares at his friend with a blank expression, but immediately shrugs and gives Harry a smile instead.

Zayn runs up to Harry, but he backs away, still embarrassed and red-faced about what happened.  “Harry, it was only us four who saw it, I promise we won’t tell,” she assures him and Harry just accepts it, taking a deep breath and refusing to have a tantrum in front of Zayn or his friends.

An elaborate plan to get back at Niall brews in the back of Harry’s mind, but he’s sure a smack to Niall’s forehead will do the job.

—

Later that night, Niall bounds into Harry’s room, jumping onto his bed and wrapping his arms around his sleepy best friend.  Niall hooks his leg over Harry’s waist, nuzzling his nose into the back of Harry’s neck to get him to wake up.  Harry and Niall have been doing this since they were first friends, a ritual cuddle to forgive each other; it's their little secret that neither of their girlfriends know about, and they’ll take it to the grave if they have to.

“I’m sorry about earlier, what Louis made me do,” Niall says to the back of Harry’s head.  “I wasn’t thinking and I embarrassed you in front of Zayn.  I’m sorry times a million, Harry.”

Harry turns over and puts his hand over Niall’s face, licking Harry’s hand clean.  Harry laughs in disgust, wiping his wet palm over the back of Niall’s shorts.

“You’re such a prick,” Harry lays a hard smack against Niall’s backside, making him yelp loudly.

“I know, I know,” Niall whines, rubbing his butt.  “And don’t worry, Louis won’t post the video online.  She wants to use it to blackmail you in the future, though.”

“How thoughtful,” Harry replies blankly, but he’s got a smirk on his face, indicating he’s already forgiven Niall.

Niall nuzzles his nose over Harry’s with a grin and sits up, excitedly bouncing on the bed.  “Hey, so Zayn’s baby is coming soon, huh?”

“Yeah, just a few more days, but we don’t know when.”

“Did you ever think about it?”

“What, her baby?”

“Well, yeah, but I meant if you ever thought you could raise the kid with her,” Niall pauses, hesitant to say the rest of his sentence, “if she wasn’t giving it up for adoption.”

Harry immediately sits up, looking at the wall in front of him before he looks at Niall with a saddened expression.  “I’ve thought about it a few times,” Harry says quietly.  “I’ve dreamt about it, but even then I don’t know if I could be a good father.  The only thing that made me believe I could be one was the moment I felt her baby kick my hand.  I just felt like a completely different person.”

Niall puts a consoling hand on Harry’s shoulder, tickling under his chin to get him to smile.  “Neither of us are ready to be parents, but I know you’ve changed.  I mean, look at the lengths you’ve gone just to be by Zayn’s side!  She loves you for it, dude, and don’t you forget that.  Even Louis is jealous over how much you dote on Zayn.”

“Wow, Louis being jealous?  That’s a first,” Harry jokes, but it’s not far from the truth.  Louis hardly ever had jealous rages, especially if other girls flirted with Niall in front of her.  But Louis is tough and she’s got enough venom in her veins to wound a thousand people with a simple backhanded comment.

“I mean it, though.  You get this look on your face when you mention Zayn, like she’s the whole world to you.  We’ve been friends forever and I know some of the looks you have when you like someone.  It’s different this time and I’ve never seen this look on you before.  I like it.”

“Me too, Niall,” Harry smiles, resting his head on Niall’s shoulder.  “I like it, too.”

—

Harry and Zayn hand in their extra credit papers the following Monday, much to Liam’s delight.  Harry can hardly believe it’s already the final week of class, not to mention the countdown to the birth of Zayn’s child.  He’s worried he won’t be by Zayn’s side the moment she goes into labor, but he doubts he’s as nervous as she is, considering she’s the one who’ll have to endure all those hours of pain.

During their class break, they share a tub full of bananas and strawberries, and Zayn is quieter than usual, her body making her feel more fatigued in the last few days.

“You’d think after all those sessions in lamaze class I’d be confident about this,” Zayn shakes her head.

“But wasn’t that the whole point?  To make sure once it happens you know what to do?”

“Well, yes, but it doesn’t mean I’m not scared,” she sighs, trying to force herself to smile at Harry.

“Hey, come on, you’ll be okay,” Harry says soothingly.  He’s doing his best to stay calm for the both of them, but Zayn begins to tear up, sniffling while Harry rubs her back to comfort her.

“Everything is just happening so quickly and I wish my body would give me a break,” she says shakily, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand.  “My hormones are going to be even crazier and I’m desperate to make it stop.  If I do anything dumb to hurt you, I just want you to know I don’t mean it.”  Harry sits closer to wrap his arms around her, angling his head to lightly kiss the crook of her neck.  “Don’t stop doing what you’re doing right now, though.”

Harry laughs, moving his kisses to her lips instead.  “Zayn, I cannot imagine what your body is making you go through and I’d probably punch a brick wall if I were you.  But we _have_ to keep it together.  You don’t have to do it for me, but at least do it for the baby.  You promised not to distress her after what happened last time.”

Zayn sits back and blinks at him, looking a little confused.  “But Harry, did you think I haven’t been doing this for you, too?”

No, he clearly hadn’t thought about it; but it makes sense considering how often she encouraged him to speak to the baby or asked him to join her for doctor’s appointments.  No, he doesn’t need to think of any more explanations after that.

—

On the eve of their final exam, Niall crashes at Louis’s place on the pretense of giving Harry time to study.  Instead, Harry takes the opportunity to secretly invite Zayn to sleep over, who happily accepts.  She arrives around seven, just after meeting the baby’s adoptive parents, along with her bags and plastic tubs of food that her mother insisted they eat for dinner.

They spend close to an hour organizing their notes after they’ve eaten, making sure they have everything they need to pass their final.  Harry’s confident he’ll ace the test, and he’s confident his reward to himself will be another date with Zayn.

“Niall has no idea we don’t actually have to study for this test, does he?” Zayn asks, amused.

“Nope!” Harry sings with a grin.  “Deliberately left out the ‘open-note’ part so you could come over.”

“Clever and cute,” she giggles, giving him a kiss.  “But you’re not cute enough until you massage my aching muscles.”

“Just how bad do your muscles ache?” Harry raises a brow.

“Oh, it’s bad, Harry.  Very, _very_ bad,” Zayn smirks, pressing the pad of her finger over Harry’s lips.

Harry guides Zayn to the couch and sits behind her, firmly kneading his fingers over her shoulders.  Zayn can’t help but let out pleasurable giggles, and Harry is doing everything in his power not to get an erection listening to her moans vibrate through his ears.  He curbs his urge by biting his lips together, focusing his energy on making sure Zayn’s relaxed.

He runs his hands all the way down to the small of Zayn’s back, his thumbs gently rubbing along the sensitive clefts of her spine that makes her tightly grip his thighs for support.  Zayn keeps whispering Harry’s name when he kisses along the crook of her neck, letting out little gasps until she stands up to face Harry, slotting a knee between his open legs and roughly kisses him to his surprise.  Her knee rubs against his crotch, leaving him breathless and half hard.

Zayn slips her knee away, taking Harry’s hand and heading towards his bedroom, carefully walking backwards to the bed as they kiss.  Zayn lies back with her elbows to prop herself up and Harry can’t help but look at her in awe, telling her how beautiful she is, her cheeks as red as roses when she blushes.

Harry’s desperate to make Zayn feel good, but he’s frightened of doing anything that might hurt her, especially when she’s at the end of her pregnancy.  Instead, he slowly unbuttons her floral blouse, trailing his lips along the swell of her breasts.  Zayn moans at the feeling of his warm mouth, sliding off one of her bra straps when he cups the side of her breast.  His thumb rubs over her nipple and she bites her lip, letting out a little whine when Harry does it again.

“Can you get off like this?” Harry asks, wetting his lips.

“I’ve never tried, but I’m sure I can if you keep going,” she says optimistically.  Zayn runs her hand down the front of Harry’s torso, stopping directly over his crotch.  “Do you want me to?”

“No, not yet,” Harry breathes out a little excitedly, pushing her hand away.  “You first.”

“Even in bed you’ve got manners,” she laughs, and Harry leans down, slowly removing the other bra strap with his fingers.  Zayn holds the back of Harry’s head when his mouth kisses closer and closer to cup of her bra, his breath hot when he pulls it back to—

“Jesus!” Zayn screams, scaring Harry out of his wits.

The sound of a ringing telephone echoes throughout the room, taking Zayn and Harry out of their sexual haze.  Zayn scrambles to get her phone out of her bag sitting at the foot of Harry’s bed, groaning in annoyance seeing her mom’s name flash across the screen.  “God, this better be important,” she says under her breath, and mouths an apology to Harry before she answers the call.  Harry slumps into the bed, burying his face in the crook of Zayn’s neck while his heartbeat calmed down from the initial scare.

He doesn’t listen to Zayn’s conversation, mostly breathing in the scent of her hair that smells faintly of coconut, and softly rubs his hand over her bump.  Zayn grumbles when she’s finished and Harry props himself up with his elbow, watching her put her phone on vibrate and tossing it to the carpeted floor.

“I’m so so sorry about that,” she groans, covering her face.  “God, I just want at least _one_ hour where no one interrupts us!”

“It’s not like I haven’t had blue balls before,” Harry jokes, but Zayn rolls her eyes, lightly hitting him in the arm with a smile.  “Besides, are you trying to tell me you don’t like kissing me?”

“Yes, you’re absolutely terrible,” she says sarcastically, giving Harry a quick peck on the lips.  “Come on,” she sits up, removing her blouse, “let’s get some sleep, we’re going to need it for our final.”

“It’s barely eleven and I didn’t even make you come!” Harry whines, but laughs when Zayn tosses her blouse in his face.  He climbs over to the foot of the bed where she stands, giving her bump a kiss.  Zayn runs her hand down the side of Harry’s face, her eyes a little watery when she smiles at him.

Harry doesn’t know if it’s the right time to say he loves her, but he’s hoping Zayn can see it in his eyes.

—

Zayn is up by six in the morning, all dressed and ready to go when Harry manages to lazily get out of bed a few minutes later.  She patiently waits in the living room with their school bags as soon as Harry’s ready, and Zayn entices him with the promise of breakfast at the local diner before class.

Harry manages to perk up with a breakfast sandwich, while Zayn thoroughly enjoys a veggie scramble with a side of hash browns.  They’ve got less than half an hour to hang out when they’ve finished eating, and Harry zooms off to the school, parking near their class.  The campus is grey and uninviting for a summer’s morning, but the sun manages to poke out from one of the clouds and brighten the entire area in the next few minutes.

The couple sit on their usual bench, talking and holding hands in the early morning emptiness of their school while they wait for Liam to show up.  Zayn softly hums to herself, tapping her fingers over Harry’s leg when Liam happily greets them several minutes later, along with a few other classmates hanging around before he lets them into the stuffy classroom.  Liam begins organizing his desk while Harry opens the windows, walking back to Zayn when Liam snaps his fingers to get their attention.

“No sitting next to each other today, I can’t have any of you looking at each other’s tests,” Liam shakes his head with a stern expression.  “Harry, take the desk next to Zayn.  The rest of you, spread out.”

Harry nods, taking his bag to an unfamiliar seat in the middle of the room, and reaches out for Zayn who flips him off in jest.  The large stack of papers that drop onto Liam’s desk overwhelms the class, and Harry’s stomach churns from apprehension, his breakfast sandwich ready to leave his stomach and land all over the carpeted floor.

—

For the next four hours, the entire class ruffles through their endless notes, flipping back and forth to find the correct answers of Liam’s multiple choice test of one hundred questions.  Liam occasionally walks around the room with his hands behind his back, briefly looking over his students’ shoulders to ensure all eyes were on their own papers.

Harry lets out a quiet snort when he sees a question regarding his presentation topic on narcolepsy, and doesn’t need to look at his notes to see which answer is correct in his list of options.  The digital clock above Liam’s desk reads 8:45 AM, a good amount of time spent now that Harry’s hit the fortieth question.   _Just another hour and I’ll be home free with Zayn_ , he thinks to himself, smirking as he fills in the bubbles of his answer sheet.

A few students finish ahead of the class, but Harry ignores them, knowing he’s still got a long way to go before he’s done.  From the corner of his eye, he can see Zayn daintily looking through her notebook, her manicured fingers skimming through the written pages before she looks down and marks her answer.

A loud crunch echoes through the room at one point, and Harry’s head is the first to shoot up, finding a sheepish Liam sitting on the edge of his desk with a large red apple in his hand.  “My bad,” he mumbles through a mouthful of fruit, and reneges to a quieter chewing method.

Several minutes later, Zayn begins moving uncomfortably in her chair, catching Harry’s attention.  She looks as if she might throw up, if the way she’s got a hand over her stomach was any indication.  Harry tries to call for her, but Liam quickly shushes him, pointing at the test to get him to focus.  Harry looks again a second later and she’s back to normal, looking through her notes as if nothing happened.

When Harry finally reaches the last question, he does a quick read through of his answer sheet and makes sure of no blank spaces before he hands everything to Liam.  Harry heads back to his seat, pulling out his phone to play solitaire while he waits for Zayn to finish.  Liam stands up to throw a few things away and Zayn whines loud enough for Harry to look up, her frightened expression concerning him.

“It’s starting!  My contractions!” she whispers, doing one of her controlled breathing methods.

“Holy shit, right now!?  How far apart?”

“Ten minutes,” she quickly shuts her eyes, holding back from possibly screaming.

“Okay, get your things, we have to–”

Liam shushes him again, and Harry’s getting pissed, his heart pounding out of his chest as he listens to Zayn’s breathing.  She’s going at a slow rhythm, a sign she’s somewhat getting relief despite the pain.  Harry needs to get her out of the room and into the hospital as quickly as possible, but Zayn keeps going with her test, filling in the bubbles of her answer sheet as fast as she can until she’s done nearly five minutes later.

Zayn scares the class when she lets out a strained cry, slamming her fist onto the desk when her contractions start again.  Harry immediately turns in her papers and gathers her things, leaving Liam to worriedly ask, “Zayn, is everything alright?”

“It’s my baby!” she shouts, tightly gripping Harry’s hand when he helps her up.  “My contractions are— _oh fuck!_ ”  Her grip is bone crushing, and Harry is on the verge of crying from her Super Pregnancy Strength that could tear a car in half at this point.

“Holy crap, you’re in labor!?” Liam shouts, stirring up the rest of the class when he runs to the door, holding it open for the couple to leave.  “Why didn’t you tell me, I would have let you go!”

“I wanted to finish my test!” she says over her shoulder, “I hope this doesn’t affect my grade!”

Liam shouts words of good luck to her and Harry whisks her away to his car as fast as possible, his entire body pumping itself full of adrenaline to prepare him for the impending hours of mayhem.

—

A bevy of shouting and too many frantic nurses have been surrounding Harry for the last six hours he’s been in the hospital.  Waliyha gives Harry a back massage to keep him calm, and Zayn’s mom simply holds his hand the entire time.  Harry feels like a chicken with its head cut off, running from one place to another or making phone calls to Zayn’s family at the request of her father.  It seems like Zayn’s got a million relatives when he looks at the calls he’s made.

Harry’s concerned when Zayn gives up on her breathing methods, the contractions so strenuous that she opts for the epidural to keep her pain at bay.  She’s finally relieved when she receives the shot and Harry stays by her side in her room, watching a movie on the television mounted to the wall.

Harry soon begins to fall asleep for some time, and is awoken when he hears a familiar voice in the room.  His eyes flutter open, finding Niall and Louis standing in front of him.  “You’re here!” he squeals, leaping out of his chair to give Niall a hug.

“Oh, Zayn, I’m so sorry we’re late,” Louis gives her a kiss on the cheek, and Zayn pats the open space on her bed for Louis to sit down.  “I know you’re only allowed ice chips, but my mom made this and it’ll fill you right up.”  Louis hands Zayn a blue water bottle, then whispers in Zayn’s ear before they burst out laughing.  Harry notices a little bit of chocolate on Zayn’s lip when she drinks from the bottle, wondering what sort of concoction Louis managed to get past the nurses.

“You guys got here on time, I think Harry’s getting tired of me,” Zayn smiles, resting her head on Louis’s shoulder.  “You should probably switch places with him, Niall.  Maybe you won’t fall asleep for two hours like he did.”

“ _Hey_ ,” Harry says offended, but knows Zayn is only joking.

“Yeah, come on, you’ve been hogging Zayn to yourself all afternoon!” Niall holds Zayn’s hand and gives her a wink.  “It’s time to let the professionals do their magic.”

“Miss Malik, you have some guests–oh!  Pardon me.”  A nurse walks in with a older couple, her surprised expression mismatched with the blank ones that stare back at her.  “I apologize for interrupting, but the Coopers are here to see you.”

Zayn nods, telling the others, “I have to take this privately, guys.  They’re the adoptive family.”

Niall and Louis are the first to leave, and Harry gives Zayn a kiss before he heads out to the waiting room with the rest of Zayn’s family.  Harry takes a seat in an empty row of leather chairs, and suddenly two young men sit on either side of him, staring him down and making him feel like the smallest person in the room.

“So _you’re_ Harry.”

He takes a look at the person to his right, his sharp nose and furrowed brow giving him an air of superiority.  “Yeah, that’s me,” Harry says meekly.  The young man leans over and looks at the person to Harry’s left, giving him a nod to speak.

“I’m Ant.  That’s my brother, Danny.”

“Oh, hey!  Zayn’s mentioned you guys a few times–”

“Zayn told us you’ve been taking care of her,” Danny interrupts, not caring for Harry’s pleasantries.  “Her dad says you’ve been doing a good job.  He also says–”

“Can you stop talking to him like a robot?” Ant interjects, only to get smacked over the head by Danny.

“Shut up, I’m trying to be intimidating!”

“Yeah?” Ant says defiantly, “Except you sound like an asshole.  Hurry up so we can go eat!”

Danny grumbles, begrudgingly holding his hand out for Harry to shake.  “We haven’t been around to help Zayn as much as we’d like with our work schedules, but she’s been telling us about you the entire time and we just want to say thanks for picking up the pieces.  She’s grateful you’re here.”

“Yeah,” Ant nudges Harry, “you handled it like a pro, man.  No one can touch you after this.”

Harry stares at Ant in wonder, unable to say anything back before the brothers stand up and ask one of the nurses for directions to the cafeteria.  Niall settles in the seat Danny had previously taken, handing Harry a warm tin foil package.

“Me and Louis made a little stop before we got here and we thought you might be hungry,” Niall smirks, waiting for Harry to open his prize.  Harry lights up when he finds his favorite tacos in the package, immediately scarfing it down before anyone could notice the smell of raw onions and cilantro permeating the air.

The nurse that came in with the Coopers calls for Harry, who immediately stands to attention.  “Miss Malik is asking to see you and–oh!” she covers her mouth, curiously sniffing Harry’s shirt.  “Have you been eating onions?”

Harry laughs nervously and quickly heads to the bathroom, washing his mouth as best as he can to get rid of his taco breath before he runs back to Zayn’s room.  The Coopers are standing by Zayn’s side, their stiffened posture looking as if they were being held at gun point.

“Harry,” Zayn holds her hand out, “please don’t be angry.”

He takes her hand, holding it to his stomach.  “Angry?  What are you talking about?”

“I’ve asked Mr. Cooper to be in the delivery room with me, so he can be there when the baby is born.”

“It’s all up to you, son,” Mr. Cooper chimes in nervously.  “Zayn suggested it, but if you feel you should be the one, then it’s okay with all of us.”

Harry looks at the Coopers, then back at a hesitant Zayn, waiting for his answer.  “No, you should definitely be with her, Mr. Cooper.  The baby will be yours soon enough, I’m just the coach,” he says, smiling fondly at a relieved Zayn.  “I’ll be more than happy to be at Mrs. Cooper’s side if she needs me.”

“What a gentleman,” Mrs. Cooper sighs, clinging to her husband’s arm.

“I told you he was– _oh my god!_ ” Zayn gasps, immediately putting her hands to the underside of her belly.  “Oh my god, I felt a pop,” she says in shock, “I think my water just broke!”

Harry and the Coopers call for a nurse, who ask them to stay in the waiting room again.  Harry nervously watches as more nurses run into her room, waiting for nearly a half hour when Zayn’s doctor shows up, informing Zayn’s family she’s fully dilated and ready to give birth, taking Mr. Cooper aside to get scrubbed up for his big moment.

Zayn is wheeled out from her room and Harry runs alongside, telling her to be strong and that he’ll be waiting for her after the baby is born.  Before her gurney is wheeled into an enclosed room, Zayn stops the nurses, holding onto Harry’s hand one last time.

“Thank you, Harry,” she utters shakily, her eyes tearing up, “thank you for being here.”

The nurses wheel her away and Harry keeps his hand out, pretending he was still holding onto Zayn.  Niall comes up from behind and hugs his friend, holding him tight when Harry begins to cry both tears of joy and relief.

—

In the hospital’s quiet maternity ward, a nurse holds up a baby swaddled in a green and white polka-dotted fabric with a little white beanie, lightly bouncing the infant in her arms.  Harry puts a finger to the window in front of him, using it to wave at the baby when the nurse walks closer to show off the newborn.

“Funny little things, aren’t they?”

Harry stands to attention, laughing in surprise when he finds Liam standing beside him.  The two friends hug, and Liam’s warm and fatherly embrace is something Harry can appreciate in the wee hours of the morning.

“How’d you know I was here?” Harry asks when they let go.

“I got your text last night, it was jumbled but I understood most of it,” Liam snorts.  “Also, Zayn’s sister told me I might find you here.  She said I must be a friend of yours because I’m wearing tight jeans.”  Harry bursts out laughing, then leans against the wall with his arms crossed.  “So does this little whippersnapper belong to Zayn?” Liam jokingly asks.

“Yup, she’s the one.  The adoptive parents named her Joely,” Harry replies.

“That’s a beautiful name,” Liam says fondly.  He looks at Harry with a hint of worry, waiting a beat before he asks, “Do you think Zayn will get to see her again?”

“I think so,” Harry nods.  “It’s an open adoption, so the parents can send pictures and stay in touch while she grows up.  Zayn will be happy to see her with a family like the Coopers, they’ve been waiting years to have a child.”

“That’s good.  Lots of babies need love; it helps them grow, believe it or not,” Liam smiles, admiring the other newborns in the ward.  “So what happens now?”

The nurse settles Joely into her bed, and Harry walks down the hallway with Liam, taking the elevator back to the waiting room.  “Zayn’s staying until Joely’s parents come back with all the baby stuff so they can take her home.  I’m not sure what’ll happen after Zayn checks out, though.”

“Well, then I guess now is a good time to let you know you both passed the final.”

“Did we?” Harry says in surprise, and Liam nods.

“Ran the tests once the class was done.  Ninety-six and ninety-eight, you and Zayn.”  Harry gives Liam an impressed smile, happy that he managed to get the grade he wanted.  “And no, I didn’t give her a higher grade because she was in labor.”

“I didn’t think you would,” Harry laughs.

They exit the elevator and stop at a closed door just a few feet away, Harry peeking through its slim rectangular window to look inside of the room.  Zayn’s sleeping peacefully in her bed, her mom sitting in the chair beside her reading through a magazine.

“Even though her pregnancy is over, Zayn will still be going through hormonal changes,” Liam informs Harry.  “Her body will go back to normal, but don’t be surprised if she starts crying at the drop of a hat.”

“No, I’m sure I’ll be the one doing all the crying,” Harry jokingly replies, making Liam laugh.  “This whole thing’s been insane, I can’t believe we got this far.”

“You should be proud, Harry.  Imagine what it’ll be like when you finally have kids of your own!  You’ll know the ropes a lot better the second time around.”

Harry chuckles softly, and is taken by surprise when an excited toddler runs around the two friends in a circle, making them laugh loudly throughout the quiet hospital.  Liam is clearly better off having kids first, especially when Harry notices the way he kneels down to speak to the hyperactive little boy to calm him down, his soothing voice keeping the toddler quiet until his worried mother finally catches up to her son.

Harry looks back at Zayn in her bed, watching her chest rise and fall in her deep slumber.  Soon enough, she’ll be able to go home, and sure enough, he'll be there when she wakes.

—

Harry peeks into Zayn’s room when he hears Joely cooing, making little baby noises that makes Harry’s heart tear wide open in response.  Mrs. Cooper has one of the nurses in the room bring Harry inside, and he immediately rushes to Zayn, taking a look at the sweetest baby in the world.  Zayn grins at Harry with pride, reaching for his hand to bring him closer.

“Isn’t she an angel, Harry?” Mrs. Cooper happily asks him.  He can’t help but grin when he briefly holds Joely’s hand, her little fingers closing into a fist over his massive finger.

“Just a little bundle of joy,” Zayn giggles.  “And she’ll have the best parents in the world,” she nuzzles Joely’s nose with a finger, her face scrunching in response just like her birth mother.

“Oh sure, just wait ‘til she’s a teenager, though,” Mr. Cooper laughs, emerging out of the bathroom with a bag of baby supplies.  “Well, I think I’ve got everything she needs here.  Think she’s ready, Zayn?”

“Yeah, she’s definitely ready,” Zayn smiles at Joely, giving her tiny hand a kiss.  “Be a good girl, okay?” she whispers, holding back her tears when Joely makes a noise that sounds like a giggle.  “I’ll never forget you, love.”

Zayn hands Joely to a nurse, and another brings a couple of documents for both Zayn and the Coopers to sign before the parents can officially call Joely their child.  They all exchange happy goodbyes, including Mrs. Cooper giving Harry the most painful kiss on the cheek he’s ever received in his life.

The nurses escort the new family outside and Zayn keeps her happy face, holding onto Harry’s hand for support.  Harry can tell she doesn’t feel like talking, and he sits beside her, holding her tight when she wraps her arms around him.  He can’t imagine the thoughts running through Zayn’s mind, the feeling of being no longer pregnant to the joy she feels knowing Joely will be loved and taken care of by the Coopers.

Zayn lets out little sniffles, giving Harry a smile when she puts a hand to his cheek.  “Tell me I did the right thing.”

“You did, Zayn, you’ve known that since day one.  You should be proud of yourself for handling this so well,” Harry assures her with a kiss.

“She’s going to grow up so happy,” Zayn puts her hands to her chest, “she deserves to be the happiest baby in the world.”

“We’ll all be as happy as Joely, I promise.”

Zayn stays quiet for a while, looking out of the bright window near her bed.  Despite the fading dark circles under her eyes and her slightly frazzled hair, Harry thinks she looks as beautiful as ever.

“I did so much planning while I was pregnant that I never figured out what I would do afterwards.  Is that weird?”  Zayn looks back at Harry, her eyebrows raised in curiosity.  “Where do we go from here?  What comes after this?”

“We take it one step at a time.  Obviously you’ll need your rest, but after that, we can just wing it.  And if we get lost, we can always ask our friends for help.  We’ll ask Niall, Louis, Liam—everyone.  Plus, you’ve got me.  I’m not going anywhere without you.”

“I love you, Harry,” she says out loud, surprising him.  “I’ve wanted to tell you that for a long time, but I always thought it was too early to say it.  It probably still is early, but I don’t care.  You’re the most amazing person I’ve met and,” Zayn tilts her head, giving Harry a smile, “I really do love you.”

“Zayn, it’s about time!” Harry laughs, declaring his love for her and leaving kisses all over her face that makes her squeal with laughter.  “If what we went through wasn’t enough,” he pauses to kiss the back of her hand, “then I’ll say ‘I love you’ until we both believe it.”

“My wonderful, thoughtful Harry,” she whispers, “I’ll always believe you.”

**Author's Note:**

> But wait, there's more! I wrote out a scene that somehow didn't make it into the final cut, so I posted it [on tumblr](http://jenkothat.tumblr.com/post/101068240516/for-polished-stone-and-agnes-just-posting-a) if you'd like to read it :)


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